Conflicting Glances
by Claire M C
Summary: Chloe gets fed up with Jack's behaviour, so she decides there's only one thing left to do. JackChloe
1. Chapter 1

Title: Conflicting Glances  
Category: AU, Angst, Action, Romance  
Pairings: Jack/Chloe  
Rating: PG-15  
Spoilers: Season Five – ignoring the whole Chinese kidnap plot.  
Season/Sequel: AU Season Five.  
Content Warning: A bit of violence later on, but nothing too heavy.  
Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of 24 and The Fox Network. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

The fury radiated from her like a bad aura. The anger and frustration heard in every harsh tap and hit of the keyboard keys.

It hadn't been her fault. Of that much she was certain.

The comms network had broken down during a joint mission between the CIA and CTU. A CIA agent had been killed and his partner seriously injured – he would probably be forced to retire from the field and left with an unappealing desk job. And they weren't the only ones. Several men from both agencies had been injured.

But she wasn't responsible for that.

She'd been gone for forty eight hours with a flu that hadn't shifted after a week of trying to work through it. It turned out to be the worst forty eight hours to be gone for. They'd been having trouble with the comm system, and while she'd been gone the communications network had crashed completely.

It had been repaired within hours but by outside contractors. Having never worked with them before, Chloe had been reluctant to trust them without a thorough inspection of the network. But time had been of the essence and Jack, Bill and the CIA personnel had agreed that it was essential to go ahead with the mission on schedule.

The terrorist cell had been brought down, but with a lot more injuries and a lot sloppier than it would have been if she'd been able to check out the systems properly.

"Dammit, Chloe!" Jack had raged when she managed to reconnect with him, "what the hell are you doing over there?"

"Sorry, Jack. We'd a computer melt down here."

He'd arrived back not long afterwards, sweaty, dirty, looking pissed as hell and hadn't so much as glanced in her direction. There'd been no sign of the usual thank you she'd come to expect with a grateful smile. He hadn't even bothered to send a cold glare in her direction, just walked on by and straight into Buchanon's office. The debriefing had been tense and the air held an icy chill.

She'd been seething ever since.

"Chloe, I need to talk with you for a minute," Jack announced as he walked passed her station, having obviously decided to 'forgive' her.

She sighed, but kept her gaze determinedly fixed at the computer screen in front of her. It drove her mad sometimes, how he expected her to come whenever he called. She jokingly told him once she was considering changing her name to Lassie.

"I don't really have time for that now, Jack."

He paused and swung around, staring at her, obviously surprised by her flat refusal. Slowly, he made his way back towards her and bent down until he was level with her, gazing intently at the side of her face, watching as she grew more annoyed and frowned at the flickering screen.

Eventually, just when she thought she was about to snap at him, he spoke.

"Your shift ended fifteen minutes ago, and I'm pretty hungry. Will you have dinner with me?"

"No."

"Chloe-"

"If you got down on all fours, kissed my feet and told me you couldn't live the rest of your life without me, I wouldn't go out to dinner with you."

His fingers tapped a high tempo beat on the counter top. Clearing his throat, his chewed on his bottom lip. "We're that bad?"

She finally turned and looked at him, her frown still evident in the corners of her lips. "We're not good, Jack."

They stared at each other intently.

"Jack?"

He turned and found Audrey standing hesitantly nearby, "are you ready to go? If we're lucky we'll be able to catch a table at 'Marseille' before the evening rush."

"Uh, I'm sorry Audrey, but I can't right now. I'll call you," he smiled reassuringly and her forehead furrowed in confusion.

Audrey glanced between the two of them, her lips thinning dangerously. She looked ready to say something, but instead smiled tightly at them.

"Sure, I'll talk to you later."

He watched as she walked out of CTU and turned back to find the one person he trusted glaring at him. "So, is Audrey into threesomes or did you just forget to tell her you were going to invite me to your little romantic interlude?" She snapped as she rose from her chair gathering her stuff and heading out towards the parking lot.

She thought he'd remained behind until she reached her car and felt him grasp herarm in a firm grip as he jogged up behind her.

"Chloe, I didn't realise…. I know I overreacted earlier, and I'm sorry. I didn't realise it was this bad between us. I was going to go out with Audrey, but I'd much rather get this sorted out first."

She snorted and wrangled out of his grasp. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving."

"What? I don't…where are you going?"

"That doesn't matter, Jack. I'm getting out of this place, it's time. I can't work like this anymore." She looked away and her tongue slipped out to wet her lips, before she gathered the courage to look back at him. "Besides, what's it to you? You're leaving again, right? Going back to Washington with Audrey?"

He stood staring at her, like she was speaking a language he didn't understand. She sighed and scuffed the dirt at her feet with a pointed shoe.

"I know the only reason you've stayed this long is to try and rebuild some sort of relationship with Kim. But that's not working is it? So now you're planning on going back with Defence Barbie to Washington," he looked confused, but she'd hit a stride and didn't seem able to stop herself. "It's okay, Jack, I know. Audrey told me all about it,"

"Audrey?" Jack said dangerously.

"Yes, Jack, Audrey. You know that woman who sends me daggers looks every time she sees the two of us together? The woman whose bed your crawl into every night? That Audrey. She told me and to be quite frank, I'll be glad." She spun around on him, her eyes blazing as she poked him hard in the chest. "I'm sick of you sniping at me and blaming me for things I've no control over. It wasn't my fault Logan's tape got wiped and it wasn't my fault you and Bill decided to go ahead with a mission when I specifically told you I didn't think the Comm systems were ready for it. So….good riddance!" she yelled, yanking her car door open, but he stepped forward and stopped her from getting in, his heart stopping for a second.

"Chloe, you don't mean that. Yes, Audrey's missing Washington, but we haven't made any decisions yet. I don't plan on going anywhere. And I know what happened in there wasn't your fault. I'm sorry I blamed you, I didn't mean to." He paused willing her to look at him, but she stubbornly refused. "You know how much I depend on you, need you."

"No," she interrupted, finally looking at him, "you don't. You don't need me Jack, you use me. And I've had enough. You don't need me to keep tabs on your daughter this time. Kim knows you're alive, I'm sure you can arrange to keep up some kind of contact with her." With that she got into her car and drove off, leaving him watching her figure until she disappeared around the corner.

To be continued…..


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. I am hoping to update this story twice a week – either Tuesday or Wednesday and then Saturday or Sunday. Once again, thanks for all your kind words 

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She answered the insistent knocking at her door in part confusion and trepidation. Her relief lasted only a moment when Jack Bauer brushed by her and rounded on her in the hall.

"You told Chloe we were moving to D.C.?"

Slowly, Audrey closed the door and finally turned to him. She touched his arm gently, momentarily surprised at the tension she felt beneath her fingers. A tentative smile crept across her face and she licked suddenly dry lips.

Shaking her head, she walked into the perfectly kept sitting room. "It was an accident," she admitted, "I didn't intentionally set out to tell her anything." She patted the cushion beside her and he sat down, keeping some distance between them, not quite ready to have her touch him just yet.

"It came up in conversation, Jack. We were speaking of how hot it was in the summer here and I, I told Chloe we were thinking of moving."

"Audrey, I….. why would you do that? I don't remember saying I was going to move across the country with you!" his eyes flew to her, angry, confused and betrayed, and Audrey felt her breath hitch in fear.

"I know, Jack," she said pleadingly looking up at him. "Like I said, it just came up one day when we were waiting for a briefing with Bill." She paused and studied his tense posture and suddenly closed off face. "I don't understand what you're getting so upset about. I was merely telling her there was a possibility that we would be moving back to Washington. I'm sure she knew it was a possibility anyway. I don't see a problem here. We met in Washington, I have a life there, and you did too. I thought…I thought you'd want to go back to that life."

Jack leaned forward, his tightly clasped hands resting on his knees.

"Audrey, you can't go around telling people we're moving without talking to me first! We've haven't talked this through properly. I have a life here in LA, my daughter, my friends, my job. This is what I do. You can't seriously expect me to just pack up everything and leave like they mean nothing."

"You did it before," she moved to sit closer to him and hesitated, gathering her thoughts. "We have friends in Washington, Jack. We can start over there; forget about everything that's happened here. I don't know how you can bear to be here this long." She looked around the room with something akin to disgust on her face, "This place…it's full of such unhappy memories, Jack. For both us. We were happy in Washington; don't you think we should go back to where we were happiest? I want us to live a happy life together, and I thought that's what you wanted too."

"Audrey," he closed his eyes and grasped for her hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing it lovingly. "I love you, I don't think you'll ever know how much, but I can't leave LA now. Not like this. I need to be here. My daughter's here. I can't just leave Kim when I'm still trying to rebuild our relationship! And I can't leave CTU right now either."

"You mean, Chloe," she said sharply, pulling her hand out of his grip.

"Audrey," he said warningly.

"Do you think I don't know that, Jack? I see how you look at each other." She stood up and walked to the fireplace, bracing herself against the mantelpiece, her voice quiet, but passionate. "For God's sake Jack, you tell her everything. When you come back from a mission, your eyes seek her out straight away. Do you even realise you do that?" she spun around, pinning him with her questioning gaze.

"I rely on Chloe when I'm in the field," he defended tightly, "She's my eyes and ears out there."

"Dammit, Jack. You don't even know the way the rest of the place talks about the two of you, do you? You don't see the sympathetic glances that get shoved my way! Do you have any idea what it feels like to feel inferior to someone like i her /i ?" she finished quietly, deadly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jack stood up angrily, his fists clenching at his side, it felt like they'd had the same argument a hundred times over the past few months. "Chloe's my friend, Audrey. She's the only one I can trust."

"I've noticed," the bitterness in her voice made him pause and he studied her carefully across the room, taking in her defiant stance and narrowed eyes, suspicion growing in his own.

"Audrey," he asked tentatively, "why did you tell Chloe we were moving to Washington?"

"Because," she bit her lip and looked away, shame fleetingly passing across her face, "because I wanted to tell her one thing about you she didn't already know. And since I'm not one to talk about my sex life openly, I figured this would have to do instead."

He stepped away from her, and closed his eyes, trying to push away the horrified and hurt emotions that came with her confession, "how can you say that?"

She stepped towards him, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jack. I know I shouldn't have done it. I'm not…I'm not proud of myself. I don't normally let the gossip get to me. I know it's not true. But, I just…I was upset and Chloe, she….she unnerves me." She looked at him, tears forming in her large eyes, a wry smile on his lips, "sometimes I think she knows you better than I do. You have this connection that I can't compete with."

"How many times do we have to have this conversation, Audrey?" his voice stumbled and he looked at her with a regret that sent a sharp pain race through her veins. "I care very deeply for Chloe. She has done things for me that no ordinary, sane person would do. She's risked her life and job for me more times than I can count. But we've never…I've never laid a finger on her Audrey, not like that. I wouldn't do that to you."

She nodded, the tears spilling over and running down her cheeks. "Jack," she went to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder and holding him tightly to her.

He wrapped his own arms around her waist and sighed in frustration and relief. Eventually, her sobs subsided and she pulled back, dabbing her eyes and smudging her already running mascara.

"I really am sorry I said anything, Jack. I know I shouldn't have until we'd talked everything through. I just, I got caught up in the idea of moving back to Washington. I want to go back to Washington. I've never made any secret about that, but if you want to stay here for a while, then that's what we'll do, Jack. I love you too, and if you need to be here, then that's where I'll be." She gave him a watery smile and he returned it, but his eyes were still troubled.

"What's wrong, Jack?" she asked quietly, leading them both to the couch, "were you and Chloe arguing about Washington earlier? Is that why she was so upset?"

Jack shook his head, a ragged sigh escaping his chest, "not just that, she's had a rough day and I blamed her for something she had no control over. I think that might be what finally did it."

"Did what?" she asked confused, reaching out and holding tightly onto his arm.

"She's leaving, Audrey. Leaving CTU and Los Angeles."

He looked straight ahead at nothing and everything. Audrey hated herself for it, but she couldn't help the thrill of relief that ran through her at Jack's words. Without Chloe their lives would be so much easier. She would never admit it but she always felt slightly intimidated by the computer genius and she felt Jack relied on her far too much.

"I'm sorry, Jack. But maybe, maybe Chloe's decided the time is right to move one with her life. You didn't expect her to stay at CTU for the rest of her life, did you?"

And he realised, he did. For as long as he was at CTU, he expected Chloe to be there. Because he needed her there, and the thought of never seeing her again sent panic racing through every never ending.

"No, Audrey. Of course not."


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe stood at her locker, taking down the odd pieces and pictures stuck to the inside of the door. For the first week after her outburst, Jack had tried to talk to her, but he only got as far as saying her name in that soft, breathy sigh he used when speaking to her, before she instantly turned the topic to a work related matter or interrupted another worker, just to avoid him. Eventually, he gave up. She was relieved; it would make this so much easier. At least, that's what she told herself.

But he still watched her, his brooding, conflicting gaze would instantly clash with hers when she felt his intense look. He'd stare at her for a second, before seeming to realise what he was doing and look away, shaking his head and concentrating on something, or someone, else.

She had treated her last day as she had treated her first. There would be no 'farewell' drinks after work; neither would there be any surprise gatherings in the canteen, or pretty cakes to cut. She hated all that, it only made her even more uncomfortable in a crowded room.

Those who would miss her most let her know in the simplest of ways. She had been surprised when, on separate occasions, Mr Buchanon and Curtis had both expressed regret at her decision to leave, and wished her all the best for the future. The sincerity coming from them had stunned her at first – she had rarely worked with people before who took the time to understand her and respect her skills as much as those in LA. And she couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret at leaving them behind.

But they had been small moments in a hectic day. She didn't have time for fuss, she just had to get her work done and do it as best as she could.

Her brow knotted as she emptied the last of her belongings into the rucksack she'd brought with her into work.

"Chloe."

She whipped around, her heart beating wildly and scowled into the face of Jack Bauer.

"Dammit, Jack. You shouldn't go sneaking up on people like that. You could get shot. Again."

He flashed a crooked smile at her that only lasted an instant before it disappeared again.

He hesitated, looked nervously towards the door of the large room and looked back at her, clearing his throat.

"So, you're really doing this?"

"Yes," she swallowed whatever lump had mysteriously appeared in her throat and returned her attention to emptying the last of her locker.

"Chloe,"

Her breath hitched when she felt his hand splayed across her lower back, the heat of his palm burning into the sensitive skin of her back. She stopped the small gasp from escaping her mouth, her teeth nipping at her lower lip, and her eyes screwed tightly shut to try and ignore the burning behind her lids.

"Please don't do this," he was so close to her, she could feel the warmth of his breath rustling the stray stands of hair at her temple, could feel the intensity of his gaze as he silently pleaded with her, his hand unconsciously dragging her closer to him.

She finally opened her eyes and looked him. He was beautiful, his eyes were so expressive, and his jaw was covered with a days growth that looked so tempting, she felt her hand twitch at her side as she contemplated touching his cheek, just to know what it felt like.

She slammed the locker door shut and stepped back, away from his potent presence, and already she could see the sadness and resignation dimming the brightness of his eyes.

"I can't lose you," he seemed as surprised as she that those words had stumbled out of his mouth, but the honesty behind them couldn't be denied.

She frowned in confusion, a vertical line appearing between her eyebrows.

"You don't have me to lose."

She was lying, and perhaps he knew that. God, he'd had her from almost the first moment she'd met him. She remembered how he'd shown up at her door with Chase in tow. With his haunted eyes but kind smile, he'd caught her, as effectively as if he'd lassoed her. There was a thin thread connecting her to him, and she suspected no matter how far away she managed to go it would always remain. She rolled her eyes at her wistfully poetic thoughts and shook away old memories that would only make this more difficult.

"I have to go now," she lifted her eyes to look at him, and froze at the intent look on his face. She had never seen him look at her like that before, and she scrunched her face, unable to deal with it now, or process what it meant. So she did the only thing she could do when she was nervous and unsure. She talked. "I left the last hourly reports on your desk. You should look at them. I didn't see anything above the normal chatter. Nothing any more suspicious than usual." She shrugged and began to turn away, lifting the rucksack onto one shoulder.

"You weren't going to say goodbye to me, were you?"

His voice caused her to hesitate and she turned back to him, the truth obviously evident in her eyes if the flash of anger in his own was anything to go by.

"I don't like awkward, Jack. And this," she swept her hands between the two of them, "is awkward. And annoying, and…hurtful. You hurt me. I don't want to hurt anymore, Jack."

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, but eventually his head dipped, his chin almost resting on his chest as he heaved a heavy sigh and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

She was right, he did hurt her. And while the thought of never seeing her again sent panic racing through every nerve ending he had, he knew being around him was slowing eating her alive. Destroying her. Just like it had everyone else. He couldn't give her what she needed, what she sought from him. He couldn't risk it. She was better off far away from him.

"Okay," it came out as a strangled sound and he cleared his throat, trying again. "Take care of yourself, Chloe. And don't forget, if you i _ever_ /i need me…"

She nodded her head jerkily, her eyes feeling hot and sore from refusing to acknowledge the moisture that was gathering there.

"Goodbye, Jack." She spared him one final look before finally turning and slipping out the door.

He stared at the empty space she had once occupied, not quite able to grasp that she'd actually left CTU, and him.

"She'll be okay, you know."

Jack looked up at Audrey, a soft smile on her face as she walked towards him and slipped her arm through his.

He attempted to smile at her, but his lips barely curled up at the corners. "I know….I just… I can't help worrying about her."

Audrey squeezed his arm encouraging him to look back at her. "She's a big girl, Jack. Chloe can look after herself. Besides, don't you think it's time she got a life outside of CTU and…you?"

Jack's forehead crinkled in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Audrey raised a perfectly waxed eyebrow, a smirk spreading on her face, "Jack, for someone so observant, you can be quite dense at times."

She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. When they pulled apart he still looked confused but also uncomfortable, although he didn't ask her to explain herself again.

"I've to give Buchanon the latest DoD update," she smiled brightly at him, and it seemed so out of place in light of him losing one of his friends, that he couldn't manage anything other than a frown. Still, she continued smiling. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I…I'll be there in a second." He flashed her a reassuring smile and she pecked him on the lips quickly before leaving him behind.

Jack watched her go, a line forming between his eyebrows. He moved towards the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Chloe as she left, but she was already gone by the time he thought to look for her.

He didn't like to think what Audrey had meant. He was aware Chloe sometimes seemed rather fond of him, but he put that down to the close friendship they both enjoyed, he shied away from admitting it was anything more to either of them, and it bothered him that others had obviously made their own judgements, even if those others included his other half.

To be continued…..


	4. Chapter 4

**_Authors's Notes_**: This chapter is my 'bridging chapter' and was a last minute addition, so as I have the next chapter ready I'll have it up by Sunday evening.

* * *

Chloe sank into the warm water, letting her aching muscles relax with the heat and bubbles surrounding her body.

She leaned back and closed her eyes, willing her mind to stop thinking just for a moment. Just until she could get a few minutes peace. Soaking in the bath, strangely enough, seemed to be the only thing that would bring her rest these days. Everything was still a bit too new and different for her to feel completely comfortable. From the moment she woke up in the morning, with the sun rising from the bottom of her bed instead of the left hand side, everything was still a bit disorientating. At least soaking in the tub hadn't changed.

She had discovered in her short time here that money went a lot further than it did in LA. And with an increase in wages she had been able to afford a decent apartment, not like that crummy place she called home back in California. It also helped that in her spare time, she was making a few extra bucks working on specialised computer systems for some small companies and paranoid individuals.

Her apartment was large without feeling empty. Her natty old couch had been replaced with a plush sofa, and her powerful computer sat on a large wooden desk by the window overlooking the street.

All around her, she had shelves crammed with books on every subject she could think of. She was a genius when it came to computers, but she had an inquiring mind and her curiosity was not so stringent as to apply to just that subject alone.

Her shelves were lined with books, everything from Austen to Keanes, horticulture to entomology, Ancient Egypt to Greek Mythology, science fiction to science fact. She hadn't yet found a subject she had not a vague interest in or a book on.

Her books had been a godsend when she'd first arrived on the other side of the country. She found it hard to sleep properly the first week. It had always taken her a while to adjust to a new environment; change was not something she was particularly adept at.

She had tossed and turned restlessly, missing even the noise of the busy LA city compared to the sedate street in Massachusetts. Only her books had kept her somewhat sane during the long hours of the night, and the thoughts that would constantly plague her in the small hours of the morning. Everything came back to Jack. One time she'd been one digit away from ringing him before she realised what she was about to do. Jack was her past, this was her future, a new chapter in the book that was Chloe O'Brian's life.

She almost rang in sick the first day she was to go to work. Her nerves turned her insides into a cement mixer. She could have easily walked into a job with a security firm, without any worries. Even the CIA and DoD had offered her a position once news of her departure from CTU had somehow reached their ears.

But she'd felt like a challenge, like a change. She changed cities, jobs, and even her appearance – darkening her hair on a whim. After all, she'd left Los Angeles to escape the life she'd had there.

She'd gone for the job at MIT thinking they'd never give it to her. Sure, she had the knowledge and the experience, but not quite the right qualifications. A masters wasn't the same as a Ph.D. But they'd overlooked that, with the help of Bill Buchanon's embarrassingly glowing recommendations, and seemed unable to let somebody with her abilities go. They had offered her the job practically on the spot. So it was, that less than a month after she'd left CTU, she had found herself moving cross country to Boston.

She'd found the campus, and college at large, daunting and hard to find her way around. She felt like an idiot having to ask a freshman the way to the library. But eventually, she'd managed to suss out every crook and cranny in the place. She knew the grounds of MIT as well as she'd known CTU in LA. A small accomplishment, but one she revelled in.

It amazed her how quickly she'd seemed to settle into the place, and feel comfortable around her fellow lecturers. Compared to some of them she seemed perfectly normal. The head of business and finance reminded her of Einstein with his flyaway hair, large glasses and quirky moods. Known for his laid back approach, terrible impressions of the lecturers from the South and penchant for gambling, he'd immediately made it his mission to welcome Chloe on behalf of the entire faculty and show her around. She never would have thought she'd actually find the students normal compared to her peers.

The one thing about her students was that they were there to learn. Only a fool would have enrolled on the course and not been serious about studying and learning properly.

She surprised herself with the patience she had with them, the accomplishment she felt at explaining something complicated and seeing the light in their eyes as the finally understood, and the sometimes challenging questions, queries and discussions that arose in the class.

Within a few weeks, she had formed a rhythm in her new life. She was considered snarky and bad tempered by those students she didn't teach, and they tended to stay out of her way and avoid her if they saw her coming. Her own students however, were loyal, for the most part. There would always be one or two that found her intimidating, but the majority of the classes respected her no-nonsense approach and even admired her for it. She may not have coddled them, but she made damn sure they knew as much as was in her power to teach them.

Chloe lazily opened an eye and glanced at the clock. Time to go to bed. After all, it was a school night.

* * *

Jack sat back in his chair, his gaze focused on the screen in front of him. He could find Chloe if he really wanted to. Track her down like they would any terrorist or person of interest they wanted to find. He may not have been as computer savvy as Chloe but he could find his way around the computer systems when he had to.

But he didn't want to. He wanted to know where she was because she _wanted_ him to know where she was. But it didn't look like that was going to happen any time soon, and probably not at all.

She'd been gone for six weeks and as of yet, he hadn't heard one word from her. He missed her. It felt like a crushing blow to his chest, everyday walking into the building and not seeing her at her desk. Audrey was right, he always did seek her out after he got back from the field. He didn't even realise until she wasn't there to find anymore.

He let out a ragged sigh when he thought of Audrey. Despite her promises, and best intentions, he knew she was hankering to get back to Washington. Things with Kim weren't working out and it was causing tension between himself and Audrey.

He hadn't expected his daughter to welcome him back with open arms, but he'd hoped for something. Some flicker of hope from her that she wouldn't shut him out of her life forever. He'd called her twice, both times the new boyfriend answered. On the third call, she'd answered, cried and told him to give her time. She'd call him back, when she managed to get her head around everything that had happened. He had yet to hear from her, and Audrey was getting restless.

Not that he could blame her. Audrey was a child of politics. She'd grown up with the White House and Congress as a backdrop. It was all she'd ever really known. She loved the complexity, intrigue and mystery that came along with it, and was itching to get back to the political capital of the country. She was in her element in Washington - she knew who to talk to and how to get them to do what she wanted, and she revelled in it. He just couldn't share her enthusiasm.

Jack Bauer was no diplomat. Hand him a gun and place him alone in a room with twenty terrorist, and he'd get the job done. But ask him to go to lavish parties and be nice to people who he didn't like and didn't like him, and he was as out of place as an Eskimo on Bondai beach.

The differences between them that had once seemed inconsequential when they'd first met now loomed like a dark shadow over their relationship. And it killed him to admit it, but life with Audrey was not working out as the happy ever after fairy tale ending they'd both been hoping for.

And through all this he couldn't help but wish Chloe was there with him. But he didn't have Chloe to talk all this through with anymore. She was gone, somewhere out in the big bad world, alone.

Sometimes he'd be at home with Audrey, and something would remind him of her. An add for Dell usually did the trick, and it would start a train of thought that invariably ended with her walking out on him. And by the tightly pressed mouth of Audrey, he knew she had a fair idea where his thoughts were.

They'd argued so often about Chloe in the past, sometimes it seemed like they'd very little else to talk about. Maybe she had thought that now that she was gone, he'd forget about her. But he couldn't.

Just because Chloe had disappeared, didn't mean he stopped worrying about her. If anything, she was on his mind all the more. He couldn't help it. There was only so long he could take not talking to her without driving himself crazy. Six weeks had been the longest yet he'd had to go without hearing her voice. Even when he'd 'died,' he'd had her talking to him every month, his constant, and the one thing he could rely on. In truth she was the only thing that had kept him sane and grounded in his forced exile. And suddenly, she wasn't there anymore.

And short of calling her himself, he did the next best thing. He called Chase, knowing she'd be in contact with him.

"Jack," his former partner sighed, "she specifically asked me not to tell you where she is."

Jack closed his eyes, letting phone slide to his shoulder. "Jack, you still there?"

"Yeah, Chase. Yeah, I'm still here." He leaned forward in his chair. "Can you at least tell me she's okay?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "She's fine, Jack. Chloe's never been one to deal well with change, you know that, but she's settling down all right."

"Thanks Chase. I just…I need to know she's all right."

"I understand," he paused before speaking again. "She's not alone, Jack. I'm her friend, I'm here for her and she knows that. I'll look after her, I promise."

"I appreciate it."

The phone clicked dead at the other end and he placed it back in its cradle, his mouth tightening into a thin line.

The knock on the door brought him out of his reverie and he smiled tiredly as Bill Buchanon entered his office.

"Jack, Karen got a phone call last night, I thought you might be interested in. You've heard me talk about her niece, Janet, right?"

Jack blinked in surprise at him, "Uh, yeah, yeah I remember. She sat her SAT's recently, right?"

"Yeah, she just started over at MIT, a computer science course. She loves it."

"Bill if you're trying to convince me to keep a job open for your niece, you're talking to the wrong person. You're the one in charge of recruitment, remember?"

Bill cocked an eyebrow at him. "Funny, and if anything I'll be trying to make sure she gets a safe job in a cubicle at some big multi-national computer firm. No, she was telling Karen about a new lecturer that started this semester."

"And?"

"Well," Buchanon rubbed his jaw, a twinkle in is eyes, "she said she scowls at everyone and described her as the most sarcastic, anti-social, bitchiest, smallest, fire brand she'd ever had. She also said she was the most intelligent women she'd ever met."

Jack froze, the only movement coming form the widening of his eyes. "Do you mean…" his throat tightened and he leaned forward in his chair, "Chloe's at MIT?"

Bill grinned shaking his head, "I can't believe even God himself would dare to put two Chloe O'Brian's on this earth. Apparently, she's lecturing, and doing very well at it."

Jack shook his head and couldn't help but smile, "Chloe's teaching? That woman always finds some way to surprise me."

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

Two Year Later……

A sharp yelp outside distracted her momentarily. As she glanced out the window, her eye was caught by a dog outside running across the grass, his tail wagging incessantly. She sighed quietly, brushing a strand of dark auburn hair out of her eyes. She was tired and cranky, and it was her last class of the day. She just wished she could be out there instead of in this room, with its many desks and just as many faces. At the moment she wanted nothing more than to go home, put the kettle on and settle down with her laptop and enjoy the quiet.

The students, noticing their teacher's momentary inattentiveness began talking amongst themselves and Chloe shot them a glare as she turned around and started writing on the large board behind her. Immediately quietening them.

"Okay," she said turning briskly back to the class, "who can tell me what Bill McKibben was trying to convey in _The End of Nature_?"

"Eh, that a trick question?" the laid back student at the front asked, his bushy eyebrows drawn together, "cause I'd have thought the title really explained it all."

Chloe rolled her eyes, "No Douglas that is not a trick question! Are you sure you're in the right school? This is MIT not preschool!"

She sighed again and rubbed her forehead, turning back to the board and writing on it. "Okay, let's start this _again_, shall we?"

Behind her she heard the door creak open and shut close, the obvious sign of a student attempting to sneak in. And if there was one thing Professor Chloe O'Brien detested more than anything else, it was tardiness.

"This class starts at three p.m. I do you the courtesy of turning up on time, and I expect the same from my students," she bit out harshly, turning on the balls of her feet and immediately coming into contact with the wayward student.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in a silent 'Oh'.

For a split second he froze, trapped like a deer caught in the headlights, but in an instant he'd recovered and a lazy grin grew across his face.

"I'm sorry," he said, his familiar husky voice causing the blood to rush through her ears. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I can leave if you want, I'll wait outside."

She swallowed hard, alarm bells ringing in her head, and wet suddenly dry lips.

"No, no that's- that' s okay."

Her forehead furrowed as she tried to compose herself. Jack Bauer had just shown up in the middle of her class.

Her class.

Immediately, she snapped back into teacher mode and looked around at her students, many of whom was glancing curiously between her and the man at the back of the room who had managed to slip into one of seats and look as if he belonged there.

She looked at Jack, her face hard and wiped of its surprise. He was a reminder of a past she had tried so desperately hard to forget.

"Don't disrupt the rest of my class."

His eyebrows rose a fraction but then he shrugged easily and leaned back into plastic moulding. "Of course. I'm sorry I disrupted this much already."

She gave him a brief nod and directed her attention back on her students.

"Randy, why do the firewalls of the so called greatest 'virus protectors' not work against the newer viruses?"

"Uh, well, I guess, that would be because new viruses are appearing everyday attacking new systems and programmes that weren't even created when some of the great anti-virus software first came on the market."

She asked questions and listened to answers, all the while being intently aware that he watched her from the back of the room. She could feel her pulse race unwillingly. Part of her was overjoyed to see him – it was Jack after all, but a part of her was annoyed and plain afraid, that being around him would bring back feelings and hurt that she had worked so hard to put behind her.

She knew he spoke to Chase about her. She'd flown out to him and looked after Angela one night when he was forced to work late. The phone had rang, and even without Jack Bauer's name flashing up on the screen, she would have known that number anywhere. She had frozen, unable to reach for the phone. Her palms had turned slick and sweaty and by the time she decided she was being stupid and answer it, the damn thing stopped ringing.

She'd spent nearly an hour interrogating Chase as to why Jack was calling him and eventually he'd given in and let her know that every once in a while Jack called.

"Just to make sure you're doing okay." Chase said, a small smile on his face.

Chloe had been disconcerted and said nothing, retiring to bed and trying to stop her whirring brain.

That had been eighteen months ago, and neither had mentioned it again.

She hated that he had come here, that he couldn't leave her alone, yet, a part of her was relieved to see he wasn't dead, he was alive and well and she could see him with her own eyes. That part of her that would always love him, no matter what he ever did, that part of her nearly fell for him all over again when he walked through the doors twenty minutes ago.

She risked a quick glance at him and he flashed a smile at her, one that seemed to imply he was impressed with her.

She frowned, feeling a headache coming on. She looked at the watch, ten minutes left until class finished, but it was the last of the day, so what the hell?

"Okay, I expect your dissertation papers sitting on my desk waiting for me at the start of next class. I'll see you all tomorrow."

Eagerly, the students packed up, throwing grateful glances at each other that their day was finally over. One or two of them whispered and elbowed each other in the ribs as they filed passed the dirty blonde haired stranger, focusing solely on their petite professor.

When the final student was gone, Jack left his place and took the steps down to the front of the class, and the teacher's desk.

She didn't meet his eyes, instead continuing to pack away books and pens.

"What do you want, Jack?" she asked tiredly.

"Is there some place we could talk?" he looked around, seemingly in a casual way, but she knew he could probably tell her how many panes of glass were in each and every window in the room.

She sighed, and snapped her case shut. "Fine. There's a café place just next door to my apartment block. We can go there. It's located on-"

"I know where you live, Chloe."

She frowned but remained silent. For some reason the idea that Jack knew where she lived bothered her.

"Let's go then," she replied, leaving the classroom and not bothering to check if he was following her. She didn't need to, she knew he was.

They waited until their order had been taken and their mugs of coffee delivered to them before either started speaking. It was Chloe who eventually broke the tense silence hanging over them.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" she asked tersely, her hands wrapped around the mug in front of her to stop them from wringing each other.

He didn't beat around the bush. Jack could be just as blunt as her when he wanted to be.

"I need your help, Chloe."

She rolled her eyes and sat back into the booth, snorting to herself as she shook her head.

"No."

"Chloe."

"No, Jack!" she bit out desperately, "I left LA and CTU behind me. I have a better life now, one that I actually enjoy. One where I don't have to worry about the people I care about being killed in what would be considered 'a routine day in the office'."

She placed the mug down and moved her hands away, but before she left them from the table, he reached out and tapped the back of her hand.

"I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think I'd another option, Chloe. I need someone I can trust implicitly, and you're the only one that matches that description."

The Chloe of two years ago would have felt her heart leap for joy at such a proclamation from Jack, but the older, more confident Chloe wouldn't allow it. She was his emotional crutch, too often he'd played her feelings and their friendship to manipulate her to get what he wanted. She wouldn't fall for it this time. Even if her heart had start beating a little faster at the implication that he still trusted her after over two years absence.

"There are plenty of qualified people at CTU you can trust to do their jobs properly, Jack." She drummed her fingers on the worn table top. "Matthews for example. He may have always been a smart ass, but he's never taken a step wrong."

"He transferred to the NY branch last fall."

"Oh," she frowned in thought, "well, what about Sholtz? Samantha was always a diligent worker, and very thorough."

Jack's eyes slid away for a moment, "she was killed. Shot in an assassination attempt on Bill Buchanon."

"What?!" Chloe sat up straighter, "huh, I guess when you leave CTU, you really are dead to everybody there."

"Chloe," Jack sighed, closing his eyes briefly, before snapping open and frowning at her. "Look, if I was looking for somebody competent, I could go with any one of the techies at CTU, you know we don't recruit wasters. But I need someone that's competent, that I can trust and that I work well with. You're the only who fits that profile."

"Jack, I don't work for CTU anymore," she insisted, her resolve weakening a little.

"Well start," he snapped. "Damn it Chloe, you know as well as I do that some things are more important than our personal lives, and this happens to be one of them. We don't have time for your personal issues, regarding me or CTU." He gripped her hand tighter, "I'm telling you I need you, and your country needs you," his steely gaze pinned her and she felt a jolt to her chest, she was almost afraid to look away from him. Damn those eyes! As if sensing her thoughts, Jack leaned closer. "I know you'll help me," he added softly, "because if you don't you're not the same Chloe I used to know."

Her chin jutted to the side, and her hands curled into fists under the table as she fought the urge to jump up and tell him she wasn't the same Chloe he'd known back in LA, that she didn't come running every time he called. But her conscience got the better of her. As usual, people's lives were at risk, and if there was something she could do to prevent the loss of even one life, she had to do it. Despite her personal objections.

Before she could answer him, his cell phone chirped and he answered it with his typical no nonsense "Bauer." He said nothing else but looked at her once during the conversation, his expression hardening.

"She'll do it," she heard him say before snapping the phone shut again. She glared at him, hating that he knew her well enough to know when she'd decided to help him – against her own better judgment.

"We need you, Chloe," any softness that had been there moments ago had disappeared and the tension had returned to his shoulders.

She looked at him in the eyes, meeting his gaze with a steady one of her own. "Fine. What do you need?"

While his face remained devoid of emotion, Chloe knew him well enough to see the tension ease a little out of his frame.

"I need you to be ready to come back to LA in fifteen minutes."

To be continued…..


	6. Chapter 6

The flight back to LA was uncomfortably quiet. Having left Jack at the café, she silently walked up to her nearby apartment, quickly packed an overnight bag and stalked back to the café well within his designated fifteen minutes.

"This better not mess up with my job at the IT. I happen to enjoy going to work now," she snapped.

"Don't worry; it's been cleared with the Dean."

"Of course it has," she answered bitterly, slinging her bag over her left shoulder.

They drove to the airfield in silence, and boarded the small aircraft in similar fashion. She settled back into her seat and stared out of the window as the plane took off. She left her new life in Massachusetts behind and re-entered her old life, only as a new person. She hoped.

She scowled and clenched her fists in her lap.

"Chloe, are you okay?"

"No."

He didn't ask for an explanation and she didn't offer one. Instead she turned her face away and continued looking out of the window.

The afternoon was gradually disappearing into the burnt amber colours of dusk, and cast a golden glow across the aeroplane interior. Her fingers thrummed nervously on the armrest and she blew out a frustrated breath.

"Chloe?"

"I hate flying," she admitted with a scowl. "There's nothing natural about being in a tin can flying 30,000 feet above the ground."

He shot her amused look. "You're not afraid to risk your job, your friendship and your freedom, when it's asked of you, but you're scared to fly?"

"I'm not scared," she clarified, "I just don't like it. Besides flying is different. I have no control over how the pilot flies the plane."

She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back into the seat and hoping to relax.

By the time they were approaching LA, night had well and truly fallen. Below them lights twinkled magically and above them, the stars shone like beacons in the sky. She stared up at the gleaming patterns of the night sky. She always regretted not being able to see the stars properly in LA. The bright lights and thick smog made it impossible. It was a shame because they were so pretty. Taking a deep breath she traced a pattern on the window with her index finger, wishing they had landed already.

"I know you call Chase," she said suddenly, turning to Jack and fixing him with her stringent gaze.

He considered her appraisingly before nodding slowly. "Yes, I do. Occasionally."

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down lightly. "I call Chase too, sometimes." She admitted quietly, diverting her gaze away.

She could feel his covert gaze tracing the side of her face, and she wished his attention didn't make her heart beat quicker.

"I missed you."

It was said so quietly, in a voice so low, but filled with emotion that she stopped breathing, frozen, her mind replaying those three words. By the time she gathered herself together and turned to say something, anything to him, his attention was drawn by the captain's announcement that they were about to land. She pursed her lips, in contemplation.

It was still there, that strange connection between them, but it was a bit rusty due to lack of use. They were out of sync with each other, a semi-tone off key from being in tune.

All too soon, they had touched down and appeared at the doors of CTU LA. She took a moment to look at it. Not a thing had changed, it was still the same non-descript building it had always been.

"Come on," Jack said tersely looking at his watch, "we don't have a lot of time to spare."

She glared at his retreating back, "I'm here aren't I?"

He barely spared her a glance as he held the door open for her and she took a deep breath as she took a step into her past.

She walked through the familiar corridors and rooms filled with unfamiliar people. Her eyebrows drew together as she followed Jack through the main floor of CTU and up the stairs to the situation room.

The burnout for workers at CTU was generally five years, six if you were lucky, and that was just for those who worked exclusively on the floor. The field agents' time span was considerably shorter. Still, it irked her how many faces and personnel she didn't recognise. She'd been gone for two years, but it may as well have been two decades for the small number of people she knew.

As she looked out over the floor, she saw her last recruit, Macy, a girl with a flirtatious smile and legs that went on forever, standing at what used to be her station and chatting with one of the field agents and Shari.

"Chloe."

She turned at the sound of her name and felt a genuine feeling of pleasure at seeing her former supervisor.

"Mr Buchanon."

"It's good to see you," he enclosed her small hand in his two larger ones, as if he was hugging her hand. "I hear you're doing good work at MIT."

She shrugged, "I do okay. What's this all about?"

Buchanon exchanged glances with Jack who had yet to make eye contact with her.

"Straight to the point I see. Very well. Over the past two months we've become aware of a Terrorist threat against this country that warranted our attention. Unfortunately, we didn't know enough about this threat to know how to deal with it properly and so Jack's been working undercover."

Chloe's gaze flickered to Jack who remained seated silently focused on Bill Buchanon. The bleeping of the phone interrupted her thoughts.

"Excuse me," Buchanon apologised hitting the speaker button on the phone.

"Mr Buchanon, Dr Rockford's here for you."

"Rockford?" Chloe echoed him.

"Thank you, Jane, send him up." He hit the end button and looked up at Jack, "I take it you didn't tell her?"

Jack shrugged, "I thought it best to wait until we got here. I didn't fill her in on any of the details."

"Does _someone_ want to tell me what's going on here?" Chloe snapped.

Buchanon was spared the ordeal of answering her by the arrival of small man, with a beer gut, badly shaven jaw and quick, intelligent eyes.

Buchanon stood up and extended his hand, giving the man a friendly smile.

"Evening, Dr. Rockford. Good to see you again."

Dr Rockford nodded in acknowledgment, "you too Bill, Jack." His gaze went by Jack and rested on the petite Computer Analyst to his left, her arms crossed and a defiant look on her face. His own was filled with curiosity, and some amusement at her scowling expression.

"Dr. Rockford, this is Chloe O'Brian our former Head Computer Analyst. Chloe, this is Dr. Martin Rockford, a Marine specialist."

"Nice to meet you." She answered caustically. "What's he doing here?"

"He's helping us with this latest threat," Jack answered leaning forward in his chair.

"Which is?"

"Water," Dr Rockford responded sitting down easily in the other vacant chair.

"Water?" Chloe repeated in confusion.

Bill cleared his throat, gaining her attention. "The terrorists have devised a water based unknown disease and plan to unleash it within the water supply of LA. It will have deadly consequences if it's allowed access among the general populace. Not only will consumption help contract the virus, but any contact with water at all will produce symptoms. The worst of it is the sufferers won't even know they've contracted it until it's too late. We were lucky enough to ascertain a sample for analysis."

Bill turned his attention to the doctor. "Progress?"

Rockford leaned back easily in the chair, "not really. We've ascertained that the infection is highly contagious, once contracted it lies dormant in the body for up to forty eight hours before symptoms start showing. Once the symptoms appear any person within five hundred yards has a high risk probability of contracting the disease. We haven't managed to come up with a vaccine yet, but we're working on it." He sighed, "if it wasn't so malicious, I'd say whoever thought this up was quite brilliant. It's fascinating."

"Yeah, water that can go around killing people without drowning them. Never heard of anything more fascinating in my life before," Chloe glared at him. "But what does this have to do with me?"

Dr Rockford's eyebrows shot up and he cleared his throat. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I've to get back to my colleagues. I'll give you another update in an hour Bill." He pushed back his chair and stepped out of the room.

Buchanon and Jack exchanged glances, before Jack addressed Chloe's question. "It soon became apparent that these terrorists had money and were using the highest spec technological assistance available. It also became clear that they're using some of the best bespoke security systems available on the market, and I've managed to acquire the IP address of their computer system."

Buchanon made eye contact with Jack, before turning back to Chloe, and leaning forward in his chair. "We understand that apart from your lucrative teaching career, you also design security systems for companies?"

"Yeah, it's not exactly a crime. I declare it on my tax return!" Chloe huffed, crossing her arms and scowling at the desk in front of her. "So…what? You think because I design personal, high tech security systems, I can somehow hack into this thing for you?"

"No," Jack replied, meeting her eyes clearly, "we know you can. The security system they're using was designed by you."

To be continued…..


	7. Chapter 7

She froze for a few moments, as she took time to assimilate what he'd said. Eventually, the outburst he was waiting on appeared.

"I don't work for terrorists! You're wrong! I screen every single person who comes knocking on my door looking for my help. Just because I've left CTU doesn't mean I've forgotten what kind of people are out there!"

"Nobody's accusing you of collaborating with terrorists, Chloe," Bill attempted to soothe her.

She snorted, "Really? Cos that last part about me building a security system for them, sure sounded like one!"

Buchanon sighed, and lifted a manila folder on the corner of the desk. Opening it, he took out a glossy photo and pushed it across the desk to her.

"Do you recognise this man?"

Chloe scrutinised the photo, at the man who stared back at her. His blonde hair, pale skin and shirt with a pin of the American flag didn't make him look like the average terrorist.

She frowned, her mouth turning downwards. "I've never seen this man before. I'm sorry."

"How about these?" Buchanon asked, placing three more photos in front of her. She looked at each of them intently, not recognising them, but the last one….

Her stomach roiled and she felt her gut pull to the right. Her face devoid of all colour and expression met Buchanon's gaze across the table. Silently she pointed to the dark haired man in the third picture.

Buchanon closed his eyes, though whether in relief or sympathy she didn't know.

"What name did he go by?" Jack pressed her.

"Ryan Tennyson," she let out a shaky breath, "he had a small legal practice and was worried about people getting onto their systems. Lawyers have sensitive information."

"Thank you, Chloe," Buchanon said reassuringly.

"I checked him out," Chloe said fiercely, "I know I don't have the resources of CTU, but I checked him out. This has to be a mistake. You have the wrong man."

"It's okay, Chloe," Jack said, standing up and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Her head immediately snapped towards him. "No, it's not, Jack! I spent nearly a decade of my life trying to fight terrorists, according to you, only to end up _helping_ them!"

She was beginning to shut down, Jack could see that. He remembered when Edgar had died, how she'd seem to just switch off, unable to focus or function. They couldn't let that happen again.

Dragging the chair by her side closer to her, he sat down and grabbed her arm forcefully enough to make her look at him. "We need your help, Chloe. Nobody knows this system better than you."

She closed her eyes, her head dropping forward.

Jack leaned forward in his chair, his hands pressed together as if in prayer. "Look, Chloe, we know one of the warehouses where they're keeping three vials of the virus. Only yesterday we became aware that there was another location. He has a supplier Chloe, but we don't know who. Harrison's not the most trusting of people, he doesn't share all his information with the men working for him. But he does keep track of it on his computer system, and you're the only one who can get that information for us. We have reason to believe they're planning an attack within the next seventy two hours, but we need your help."

She opened her eyes, suddenly and looked at him. Her lips pursed in consideration and her eyebrows drew together, causing a crease to form on her forehead.

"If you're working undercover, how can you find the time to fly across the country to pick me up?"

Jack frowned, obviously annoyed. "This morning, Harrison told us to scatter, he told us to meet him back at his place later this evening. I thought I'd make use of that time and make sure you'd help us."

"And what were you going to do if I said no?" she challenged him.

"I knew you wouldn't."

Buchanon cleared his throat, "that's all the information we can tell you right now, Chloe. Do we have your co-operation?"

Her mouth twisted, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine," she muttered. "Whatever."

"Good." Jack got up and led her out the door and down the steps towards the hub of CTU, the Comm centre.

"Shari, move to station five," Jack ordered, and the woman complied, her eyes widening a little as she saw her former boss. Chloe just rolled her eyes and sat gracelessly down at the computer.

A dark haired man that Chloe had never seen before appeared at Jack's side, resentment shining from his tanned face.

"This her?" he asked brusquely.

Jack sighed, "yes, Milo, this is her." He glanced down at Chloe, an apologetic expression flitting briefly over his features. "Chloe, this is Milo Pressman. He's the new floor manager; he just started two weeks ago."

"Nice to meet you," she said not bothering to look at him, her curious face trained on Jack. "What happened to the last one?"

"We've had trouble finding a permanent replacement." Jack admitted.

"Until me," Milo interjected.

Chloe sent a disgusted glance his way. "Great, Milo!"

"Enough chitchat. How much time do you need?" Jack asked, looking at the screen, but he was so close, her hair danced with his breath. Annoyed with herself for the racing pulse his proximity caused, she bit out harshly.

"If I really did design this…twenty minutes maybe. Less if you're not standing over my shoulder."

He moved away silently, and she bit her bottom lip, feeling a pang of guilt in her chest. It wasn't his fault she was attracted to him.

Clearing her mind of all thought, she allowed her fingers to settle over the keyboard. The feel of them lying motionless for a moment on the hard keys, with the dark screen in front of her popping up windows of information, brought all her experiences back to her. Days spent sorting through Internet chatter and terrorist profiles.

In a second, her nostalgia was over and her fingers flew over the keyboard, typing algorithms and passwords, dodging firewalls and spam detectors.

She paused suddenly in her work, it lasted only a second, but it was noticed.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Nothing," she replied, lifting one shoulder in a half shrug.

"Chloe?"

She sighed, "it's just…I did design this. I recognise the initial anti blocking software. I just….I can't believe I've actually helped a bunch of gun toting terrorists."

"This isn't your fault, Chloe," Jack told her quietly, but said nothing more. They weren't in the right environment to begin quelling her concerns and insecurities.

Ten minutes later she smiled triumphantly. "I'm in."

Shari snorted, "seventeen minutes? You're slipping Chloe!"

Chloe shot her a withering look, "I design the best in security software, it's pretty much impenetrable unless you know the backdoor system, of course."

"Where's the location?" Bill asked urgently, appearing at Shari's side.

Chloe frowned, "I don't know. I have the file, but it's encrypted. I'll need to work it over again."

"How long will it take?"

"I don't know. Anything from five minutes to five hours."

"We need it done as quickly as possible, Chloe." Jack replied. "I'm meant to be meeting Harrison in less than three hours."

"On it," she replied automatically, "Milo, I'm sending you over a copy of the file, if you could use some of the beta programmes to try and decrypt it, it will save us more time."

Milo's mouth twisted but he nodded. "Send it to station twelve."

Jack looked between the two of them in relief. "Good work, Chloe. Let me know when you get something."

Jack walked off towards his office, determination in his every stride. It was almost as if she'd never left. There she was working to get the information Jack needed to make the right decisions and save his ass.

Two hours later, her eyes scrunched together in confusion and concern. She sat back, her fingers finally stilling above the keyboard, still poised to strike if necessary.

"Chloe?"

Buchanon stood behind her, leaning over her shoulder and looking at the screen, a frown appearing suddenly on his face.

"Call Jack," Buchanon ordered, "bring him to the situation room."

It was only after she'd done as Buchanon had requested, that she even realised she'd fallen back into her old routine at CTU, taking orders and being Jack's part time PA. She growled in annoyance at herself and entered Buchanon's office just as Jack did, holding the door open for her. She sent him what she hoped was an appreciative smile but feared appeared to be more like a grimace.

"I decoded Harrison's files. The other location is a water reserve outside Washington DC. He's got a partner."

"What?" Jack asked, his face contorting with confusion. "That can't be right, Harrison's the leader, and he doesn't share power. He's a power monger he needs to be in control of every facet of the operation. He wouldn't trust anybody else to work with them."

"I'm telling you Jack, there's someone else in this," Chloe insisted, flicking on the large screen at the end of the room and calling up the recently decoded document. "I have Shari running the name through now to see if we get anything."

Jack frowned, a vertical line marring his features. "I know that name," he whispered more to himself than anyone else.

"Jack?" Buchanon enquired.

The phone in the middle of the table bleeped, and Chloe glanced down to see Shari staring up at them, the phone clutched to her ear.

"Yes," Buchanon answered.

"Sir, I ran the name through the system like Chloe requested. Damien Mason, is a former-"

"CIA," Jack interrupted suddenly, "he's CIA."

"Mason was on the botched CIA/CTU mission two years ago. His partner was killed and he was so badly injured and forced to a desk job," Shari continued. "He didn't take to it very well by all accounts and left the CIA five months later. Nobody heard from him again."

"All right, Shari. Thank you." Buchanon switched off the phone and leaned heavily against the desk, watching as Jack paced a few feet back and forth.

"What would make a former CIA man suddenly turn against the people he's sworn to protect? He was injured on duty, I understand, but why turn around and try to poison everyone?" Chloe asked.

"Because it was his life," Jack answered easily, too easily for Chloe's comfort. "He has no family, nothing apart from his job and it was taken away from him. By us. And his superiors at Washington. He wants them to pay for what they did. LA & Washington. They're the two targets."

"You're meant to be meeting Harrison in forty minutes, Jack," Buchanon reminded him. "You better get ready." Buchanon called down to station twelve. "Milo, I want to know every single bit of information we have on former CIA agent Damien Mason." He put the phone down and turned to Chloe. "Chloe, get DoD and the Washington branch on the phone for me."

"Of course."

"Audrey?" Jack asked.

Buchanon nodded, "she's still the best contact we have, Jack."

"I know," he said quietly, head bent as he left the office, Chloe following his every movement.

Behind her she heard Buchanon sigh, and turned to him.

"Audrey's in Washington?"

"Has been for the past eighteen months."

Chloe's forehead wrinkled in confusion, her eyebrows drawing together. "But Jack's here."

Buchanon shrugged, "I'm hardly Jack's confidante Chloe, but it seemed when push came to shove Jack couldn't leave LA and Audrey couldn't live in it. Just get her on the phone, Chloe."

Chloe glanced back towards the door and shifted uneasily. "I'll get right on it, sir.

"Thank you, Chloe. We need to get this guy and we need to find out everything about him."

"Yes, sir."

Chloe got in contact with the DoD and was told Ms Raines was unavailable for the moment. Her cell phone was also inconveniently switched off. She cursed silently and slammed down the phone.

Spying Jack, her guilt got the better of her. She hadn't exactly been Little Miss Sunshine since he'd walked back into her life earlier that day. She supposed she should apologise to him, and followed Jack down to the armoury, where she found him checking out his .9mm.

He looked up at her entry and smiled tightly at her. A smile that changed to curiosity when he noticed her uncomfortable stance.

"Everything all right, Chloe?"

"Yeah, Jack, everything's fine. Apart from the whole terrorist thing." She bit her lip and he cocked his head at her.

"Chloe, is something wrong?"

She took a noticeable deep breath and met his eyes, "I've been a bitch ever since you walked into my class this afternoon and I wanted to apologise."

He looked at her in surprise. "You're apologising to me? Chloe, if anyone should be apologising it's me."

He stepped forward and placed a hand on her arm, stroking it gently. "God, I'm so sorry. About everything. About how I treated you the last few months you worked here, I'm sorry I barged into your class this afternoon. I don't blame you for being angry, Chloe. If I managed to get out of this place and start a new life for myself, I'd be pissed to be dragged back to it."

She looked confused. "But, I thought…I thought you liked working here. Isn't that why you didn't move with Audrey to Washington?" she coloured, realising she shouldn't have said anything. "Sorry, as you can see some things never change."

"It's okay, Chloe. I missed that about you. And Audrey wanting to move to Washington was just one reason we broke up. I wasn't ready to leave CTU then, but I don't plan on staying here forever."

"Just make sure you come back safe today, okay. I think we need to talk."

His eyes softened and he nodded in agreement. "I always come back, Chloe, remember?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "Well, I'm at the end of the phone if you need me for anything."

"Thanks," he squeezed her arm again as he walked away.

"Jack," she called out to him just as he opened the door. He turned, and she glanced around nervously, making sure nobody else was around. She crossed her arms, a little uncomfortable. "I just wanted you to know…" she bit her lip and took small, quick steps towards him before she could change her mind. "I missed you too, Jack." Before she could think too much about it, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. 

He was shocked at first, but quickly got over it and returned her enthusiastic embrace, burrowing his nose in he fine strands of her auburn hair and revelling in the feel of her once more. "You have no idea," he whispered into her neck, and she felt tears smarting at the corner of her eyes.

All too soon he pulled back and looked away. "I have to go."

She nodded, keeping her hands locked tightly together. He smiled crookedly at her, and left the building.

To be continued…..


	8. Chapter 8

"Come on," Chloe whispered urgently as the line rang for the fourth time. Thankfully, this time it was picked up.

"Audrey Raines,"

Chloe sighed, "Audrey, it's Chloe," she paused for a minute pursing her mouth, "Chloe O'Brian, I mean. I'm calling from CTU, I have Bill Buchanon on the line for you."

A surprised silence answered her and she rolled her eyes. "Audrey? Are you there?"

"Yes, Chloe. I'm sorry, I just…I didn't think you'd ever go back to CTU."

"Well, that makes two of us. Please stay on the line," she added, a false perkiness in her voice to disguise her nervousness. She frowned as her fingers stumbled as she called up to the Head of Operations.

"Buchanon."

"Sir, I've Audrey Raines on five."

"Thank you, Chloe."

After patching the call through, she sat back in her chair and huffed. Now what was she meant to do? Technically, she wasn't even an employee of CTU anymore; she didn't even have any clearance codes. She glanced around the room and immediately locked on Pressman again.

She crossed the floor determinedly, her arms crossed and stood just beside him. He looked questioningly up at her, an eyebrow cocked enquiringly.

"I worked here for four years, I redesigned the security programmes and tightened up the network systems. I could operate three different satellites on three separate networks focused on different locations at the same time."

He snorted, "All hail Chloe O'Brian, Goddess and Miracle Worker of CTU! How shall I serve you my Lady?"

She crossed her arms, glaring at him. "Are you done?"

He sighed, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, I'm done."

"Good. I'm not bragging, Milo, I'm stating a fact. I'm a resource and I can't sit here doing nothing. Use me."

Milo let out a breath, clearly still pissed at having her waltz in and take over like the big honcho. "All right. I'm still checking out Mason, but while you were connected to Harrison's computer we managed to catch a fragment of an e-mail. It needs to be analysed and logged."

"I'm going to need clearance for that."

Milo studied her carefully, "I'll have to clear that with Buchanon."

"Fine," she turned on her heel and sat back at the desk. Two minutes later she had level three clearance and several windows of data to sort through.

There was little of any significant interest and she found her thoughts invariably drifting towards Jack and what he was doing at that moment.

Milo appeared behind and leaned over her shoulder and tapped a few keys, until a picture of a girl appeared.

"I thought you might find this interesting. This is Carolyn. Our man's sister."

"Sister?" Chloe frowned, not recalling any siblings being mentioned when she'd read the brief biography they'd managed to garnish from CIA. "Well, she's pretty."

"Yeah, she is, but look at this." He popped up another window filled with data. "She studied Marine Biology as her major in Brown and worked for JWH Ltd, a pharmaceutical company as a researcher and developer."

"Have you told Buchanon this?" she questioned urgently.

"Just about to."

"Why did it take so long to find her?" she snapped irritated.

Milo stiffened, "because she's his half sister, on his mother's side. They don't share the same last name and they haven't lived in the same house for the past twenty years."

Chloe nodded, "Okay, I'm…sorry I snapped. I do that sometimes."

"I noticed. I'm going up to Buchanon."

"Good, I'll see what else I can find out about her," Chloe replied, her fingers already flying across the dark keyboard.

By the time Jack called, the Washington branch had picked up Carolyn and were interrogating her.

"What's going on?" Jack asked as he connected with her.

"We found who made the virus. It's Mason's sister. Dr Rockford's on conference call with Washington to see what more he can find out about it."

"Has she told us anything about Mason?"

"No," Chloe admitted mournfully, "she admits she developed the virus, but says she hasn't heard from him since she handed it over to him."

She heard him sigh over the phone line and wished she could make all this easier for him somehow.

"Well at least it's something. Chloe, can you put me through to Bill?"

"No problem," she put him on hold and spied Buchanon across the floor talking to one of the agents.

"Mr Buchanon, Jack's on three."

Meeting her eyes from across the room, Buchanon thanked her on the phone before hanging up and picking up Jack.

"Jack?"

"Bill, Harrison's after calling all of us together to get ready. It's happening tonight. Within the hour." Jack glanced around the building, making sure nobody was near him.

"Okay, Jack we're on it. We'll contact Washington and get our teams ready. Contact us if you can."

"Bill?" Jack said before Buchanon could hang up.

"Yes, Jack?"

"I want Chloe running point on this."

A smile touched Bill's mouth as he looked down at the table, "I had an idea you might say that. Consider it done."

"Thank you." Jack hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Hey, Bauer," Jack turned at the sound of his name and came face to face with Dresher, one of the men who was slightly more suspicious of him than the rest. "Who you calling?"

"Girlfriend," Jack replied easily, "you know what they're like. You don't show up for dinner and suddenly they think you're cheating on them with the next door neighbour."

Drescher's eyes narrowed. "Didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"You didn't ask."

"What's her name?"

"Chloe," it was the first name that came to his mind and he almost showed his surprise at how easily her name had passed his lips and her image had pushed its way to the forefront of his mind. Drescher glared at him, and Jack grew impatient.

"What the hell is this, Drescher, twenty questions? I thought we had something more important to do tonight."

"Yeah, which is why we can't risk anything going wrong. The boss wants to meet us all to over this thing one last time. You sure your girlfriend won't be causing us any problems?"

"Of course not."

"Good, cos I'd hate to have to….deal with her myself."

Jack smirked, a mirthless chuckle escaping his lips. "Trust me; you wouldn't be able to handle her."

"As long as you can," the other man said menacingly.

Jack's eyes narrowed, "don't worry. I take care of my own."

Drescher stared at him for a few minutes before sniffing disgustedly and turning around to re-enter the building.

Jack let out a quiet sigh of relief, and followed the bulky man back to the main centre.

Harrison had locked himself off in another room, allowing only Drescher access to him. His paranoia was unique and Jack guessed that only his inability at computer software had made it even possible for them to hire Chloe to set up their security systems.

Jack settled in the far corner of the room, sitting apparently lazily down on the rusting metal fold up chair and let his eyes covertly scan the room. On the other side of the room, a young man named Colin manned the computer system. From what Jack could gather he'd somehow managed to tap onto a disused government satellite and was using this to monitor the attack targets and any possible agency activities that could affect them.

Harrison appeared at the door, his clear eyes and engaging smile, a hypnotic combination on most of his followers.

"My friends," he began calmly, "we are here today to prove once and for all that we love our country."

Around him, Jack saw the four men and two women sit up straighter and listen attentively to Harrison's every word. He smiled beguilingly at them, a determined and hopeful spark shining from his intense sea eyes. "It is time to open America's eyes to what she is in danger of becoming. This current administration has succeeding in undoing centuries of work as the leaders of freedom and an example to others. Instead, they have managed to make us the _contempt_ of the world!" He practically spat the words out, his anger reaching out from him and stirring those sitting in front of him.

"Our government's current policy of exploiting our nations reserves, and those of poorer countries - pillaging them for their oil and other riches that we are rapidly growing short of - while completely ignoring the environmental costs of our actions must stop. Future generations will not thank us for standing idly by while we use up what is left our world's natural resources."

He paused, looking around at each and every person before him, determination and passion colouring his voice. "We can not, and shall not, leave our children and grandchildren to clean up after our mess. And it is time we showed our oblivious contemporaries exactly what the world we leave behind will be like for our offspring."

He shook his head sadly, his mouth set into a grim line. "I know that none of us relish what has to be done, but it seems we have little choice. The way the world works now, the way the government had fooled the American people, has forced us into this action. People have been tricked into believing that we cannot live without oil, money and power, while ignoring the fundamental necessities such as clean air, and water. It is time, my friends, we showed them _exactly_ what the world could be like for the future generations if we don't act now." The pleading quality to his voice made his blue eyes sparkle and appealed to the others sitting in front ofhim. "We are on a precipice; there is still time for us to change the history of the world, to make a real difference in the world before it's too late. What we do now, is a necessary evil to make America wake up and realise exactly what the future holds when we can't even trust the very water coming from our taps, something that we take for granted every single day. In doing this, I am convinced we can awaken America to the dangers ahead of us, and lead the rest of the world to our salvation! We do this for the greater good!"

The men and women around him cheered and clapped, and Jack had to admit, the man was good. His intentions were good, his methods…seriously off kilter. He imagined if the man ever ran for election, he'd have no trouble charming the voters to get himself into office. Maybe there he could have made a real difference instead of setting down a dangerous and destructive path he'd chosen.

"Our time has come," Harrison said carefully looking around the room and making eye contact with every person in it. "We will save the world by showing them it's end. Be ready to leave in ten minutes."

The room came to life, moving and gathering their weapons and necessities. "Jack," Harrison called, "I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

Jack followed Drescher and Harrison into the other room. Drescher hung back near the door, leaving Jack and Harrison to talk up front.

"I know originally we had planned that you would stand guard at the front entrance, but I find I would prefer it if you were with us."

"Why? Isn't it a bit late in the day to making changes to the plan?" Jack questioned carefully.

Harrison smiled grimly, "I would normally agree, but with your military training I'd rather keep you close. I'm not anticipating any trouble, but you never know."

"Okay, if that's what you really want," Jack's eyes narrowed but otherwise he showed no signs of his unease.

"It is," Harrison replied.

Jack nodded, and left the room, his fingers already twitching to dial a familiar number. Harrison stared thoughtfully at him as he disappeared down a corridor.

"Do you still have your doubts?" Drescher asked quietly coming to stand beside the slighter man.

"Yes," Harrison admitted.

"Then we shouldn't bring him," Drescher replied insistently. "If we can't trust him-"

"It's even more reason to bring him with us," Harrison interrupted. "You know the old adage Dresch – 'keep your friends close, and your enemies…'" his voice drifted off.

* * *

She emerged from the shadowed corridor looking as stunningly beautiful as she always had.

Chloe felt her jaw slacken for a minute. She had assumed that she was still in Washington, and seeing the tall blonde suddenly walk through the corridors like she always had surprised her.

The former analyst felt a bubble of resentment rise through her. Audrey Raines always looked so good, so perfect. Not a hair out of place or a smudge of mascara. Even after she'd been forced to endure the torture methods of CTU, via Jack, she had somehow managed to look like she just stepped out of a beauty salon ten minutes later.

Yes, Audrey Raines was everything the world told her was elegant, refined and beautiful, and a small part of Chloe hated her for it.

She didn't know how she managed it, but somehow Audrey looked even better than the first time she'd met her almost five years ago. Her Gucci suit hugged her body like a glove and showed off her long legs. Her hair was pulled back with a gleaming silver slide, with not one strand daring to slip out of place.

Chloe could understand what had attracted Jack to her. She was gorgeous, and the thought suddenly occurred to her that Terri must have been a very beautiful woman.

Chloe had only a few moments grace to get over the initial shock and anxiety of seeing her again. Her study of Jack's former girlfriend was suddenly halted by her subject finally finding her among the crowd of CTU analysts and locking eyes with her. Chloe tensed and she could see the tension settle into the other woman's frame.

Audrey smiled tightly at her, if you could call it that. It was more of a subtle upward motion of lips that were tightly pressed together.

Chloe nodded briefly at her, and forced herself to look back at the computer screen in front of her and break eye contact with her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bill Buchanon approach the Secretary of Defence's daughter.

"Audrey."

The blonde turned at the sound of her name, a bright smile on her face as she shook hands with the CTU director and quickly kissed his cheek.

"Bill, it's good to see you again. I wish it was under better circumstances."

"You're not the only one. Shall we?" he swept his arm towards the steel stairs, allowing her to precede him up to his office. He glanced behind him briefly at his former senior analyst only to find her staring intently at her screen, a line between her eyes as she pretended to ignore that one of the reasons her friendship with Jack had fallen apart had entered the building.

Buchanon sighed, shaking his head. He never thought he'd ever have to deal with 'Bauer's Angels' ever again, but it seemed the day had taken another interesting turn.


	9. Chapter 9

Buchanon quickly descended the stairs, followed by Audrey Raines. "I just got a call from Jack. The terrorist strike is occurring now, as we speak. Jack has managed to set up his ear piece undetected and we'll only be able to use one way communication with him. Chloe," he turned to the brunette who bit her lip lightly, "I want you to run point on this. Remember, you can talk to Jack but he can't reply. Shari, contact the Chief of Staff at the White House, let him know what's happening."

Chloe stared at him in surprise, her heart rate already speeding up when Milo threw his hands in the air and vacated the station for her.

"The army helicopters are ready and waiting for your command," Audrey told Bill quietly.

"Understood," Bill nodded. "Chloe, the two tac teams have been informed and should be holding an initial perimeter of one mile around the plant. Make sure they're in position."

Bill spied his newest CTU analyst nearby, "Milo, reposition the Dharma DoD satellites, I want a clear image of what the hell is going on here and in Washington."

"You're sure they've access to satellites?" Audrey questioned the director of CTU.

Bill nodded gravely, "Jack told us early on they'd managed to gain control of a decommissioned army satellite. They've been using it to keep tabs on our CTU satellites, and keep an eye out for any unusual activity around the water facilities."

Audrey nodded, her gaze focused on the large screen in front of her as a dark image of the earth appeared before getting closer and growing in detail as the city of LA became apparent and the nation's capital appeared in a split screen.

She crossed her arms tightly and breathed deeply. Jack was out there somewhere, once again risking his life for his country, and for nothing more than a civil servant's salary. She felt the sharp edge of the ring on her wedding finger cut into her side, and she felt a twinge of guilt inside.

She couldn't help but compare Jack's civil servant wage to that of her future husband – one day to be the future president she was sure. He was a good man, a man she loved, but his salary compared to Jack's was a scandal. And Craig wasn't the one risking his life out there every day. Thank God.

Involuntarily her gaze slipped to the now brunette Chloe O'Brian, and she felt a frown crease her lips. It was eerily like old times – Chloe at her station leading and guiding Jack while she sat back quietly, observing and worrying, her pulse racing and nervousness attacking her body. Of course she tried not to let it show, she just wasn't as good at it as the computer analyst.

Chloe sat at her old station, her heart pounding as she took up point. That was one thing that had never changed. She was well aware that she was responsible for the agents out on the field. That they relied on her to lead them safely through the enemy territory and warn them of possible dangers ahead of them.

"Curtis, do you copy?"

"Copy, Chloe. Good to hear your voice again."

"Thanks. Are you in position yet?"

"We're taking up final positions as we speak."

"Gonzalez?" she asked switching channels.

"Reading you loud and clear, CTU. We're just in position."

"Copy," Chloe looked up, immediately meeting Buchanon's gaze. Out of all her bosses only he could come somewhat close to Jack in understanding how she worked.

"Mr Buchanon, the tac teams are almost in position."

"Alright, Chloe. Okay people," he called addressing the floor at large, "I want everyone at one hundred and ten percent. We want this done swiftly and strategically. No mistakes."

"Confirming final positions," Chloe answered.

Buchanon nodded, in his natural role of leader and protector, guiding and guarding his staff and agents. He slipped his ear piece on and strode towards the centre of the floor, his hands on his hips, pushing back the fabric of his jacket.

They spent moments in tense silence, waiting for something to happen. Eventually, Gonzalaz's voice was heard over the static.

"Three four by fours are arriving on the scene."

"Have we been able to identify the occupants?" Buchanon asked.

"Negative sir, the windows are tinted."

"Curtis?"

"We've three dark colour coloured four by fours coming from a northwest direction." There was a pause. "It's Harrison. He's accompanied by eight others and Jack. They're all armed with tranquiliser guns and glocs. "

"Okay, Curtis, make sure your team holds position for the moment."

"Jack," Chloe said quietly into the headset. She could hear the clearing of his throat, an indication he could hear her loud and clear. "Jack, we've got you in sight. The two tac teams are on standby."

As expected she got no reply and switched off the talk button. Across the room, Milo monitored the progress in Washington and was quietly liaising with their sister unit. On the satellite feeds images of CTU agents and terrorists made their presence known and every person held their breath to see what the next image would show.

"Remember," Buchanon cautioned, "this is not a shoot to kill mission. The last thing we need is to turn Harrison into some sort of martyr."

The comm unit crackled in Chloe's ear as Curtis made contact. "The hostiles have entered the facility. We have three men at the entrance."

"Move in," Buchanon instructed, "carefully, we don't want to alert the others before we're ready."

On her screen, Chloe brought up blueprints of the station and studied it quickly, making note of the main exits and corridors. In her minds eye she saw Jack and six other men being lead through to the centre of the facility towards the main tanks, where Harrison could cause the destruction of LA.

Over the comm unit she could hear the rustling of agents as the two tac teams moved forward and took out the three men at the entrance, but not before one could radio the others.

"Dammit," Curtis cursed, "Chloe, one of them contacted Harrison, they know we're here."

Chloe felt her heart rate increase rapidly and listened as Buchanon ordered the men to move in.

"We got Washington!" Milo announced triumphantly, a smile on his face. "We've got Mason in custody and seven others. The vials have been apprehended and are being transported to CTU Washington as we speak."

"Chloe," Curtis called, "what's the best way to get to the main water tanks?"

"Go through the main entrance, and take the door on the immediate left. At the end of that corridor is a turn to the right, take the second door on the right and follow the corridor to the second last door, go through that door. There's another door twenty six metres straight in front leading to the tanks."

Curtis followed her instructions with his men while Gonzalez's team rounded up the watchmen and prepared to escort them to secure places and bring some back to CTU.

* * *

They had arrived outside the darkened facility, in relative silence. Getting out of the vehicles, Jack watched as Harrison and Drescher talked quietly ahead, while his eyes scanned the horizon, knowing that somewhere out there the best of CTU were out there hidden, waiting.

"Jack," he felt a swell of relief hearing Chloe's voice in her head, it had been so long since the last time. "Jack we've got you in sight. The two tac teams are on standby."

He cleared his throat and turned back towards the rest of the group.

"All right," Harrison said, addressing the small following he'd brought with him. "You all know what you're meant to do. Robinson, Watters, Blake you're all to stand guard at the front entrance. Williams, Connors and Johnson, as soon as we enter the facility, you're to go the main office and take care of the guards there. Drescher, Tyler, Bauer, you're all with me at the water tanks." He looked around at the all, a smile on his face. "I thank you all for your foresight and dedication in taking this path. In years to come you will all be considered the true saviours of not only this country, but the world as a whole. This country will owe you all a great debt."

Drescher stood solemnly at Harrison's side, eyeing everyone of the group in front of him, before settling on Jack. There was something about that man that rubbed him up the wrong way.

"Let's go," Harrison declared, and immediately they all followed him. As they had planned, Robinson, Watters and Blake took out the guards at the front entrance and stood guard, while the remaining members of the raid split up as previously agreed, and made their way through the facility.

Jack was following Drescher and Harrison along with Tyler when he heard the crackle of the radio and the warning before the machine was quickly cut off. Blake hadn't said much, but it had been enough.

Harrison and Drescher locked eyes, before Harrison swung towards the others.

"We've been discovered. We'll have to hurry."

"They were waiting for us," Drescher insisted, baring his teeth angrily. "Which means somebody told them of our plans."

He turned to Jack, a distrustful look on his fleshy face.

Jack straightened a snarl on his features. "You think it was me?"

Drescher cocked his gun and pointed it at Jack, immediately causing Tyler to follow suit.

"No Drescher," Harrison stopped him, "we're not killers."

Jack didn't feel the need to point out they were attempting to commit mass murder, and instead stood his ground, fists clenching at his sides.

"We should get rid of him," Drescher insisted.

Harrison hesitated, but then nodded. "I think you're right, Drescher."

"Harrison," Jack growled.

Harrison walked towards Bauer, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Jack, but we can't take the risk." He nodded towards Tyler, who grabbed Jack and drew his arms around his back, and despite his struggles, he couldn't get rid of Tyler's steel like grip.

Raising his hand, Harrison lowered the butt of his gun heavily, knocking Bauer to the ground with a sickening crack to his upper cheek, and Jack's world went blank.

He knew nothing until the distant call of his name forced him to open his eyes and send pain shooting through his head.

"Jack?" Curtis knelt down beside a groaning Jack Bauer. He opened his eyes groggily. "You okay?"

"Dammit," Jack seethed. He attempted to sit up but felt light headed and lay back down. "Get them, Curtis," he managed before screwing his eyes shut.

In a blur Curtis left and Jack began focusing on other things. He heard the whirring of the army helicopters arriving outside the building, and the heavy footfalls of agents moving in the distant. Determinedly, he got up and took a few lazy paces before following in the direction Harrison had taken. There was no way in hell he was going to let that man get away now.

"Chloe?" Jack croaked out.

Chloe closed her eyes in relief, "right here, Jack. Curtis is nearly with Harrison."

"I'm following."

Jack said nothing as he approached Harrison's final position, swiftly taking in the scene before him.

He arrived at the tanks, in the middle of a standoff. Harrison stood over the main tanks while Drescher and Tyler stood on either side of him, guns drawn and ready to serve until their final breaths. Tyler had a gun pointed at Curtis, Drescher at another CTU agent on the other side of the floor. The tac team were spread out around the room, but none clear enough to take out Harrison before Drescher or Tyler could shoot.

"Give it up, Harrison," Jack directed through clenched teeth, ignoring the throbbing in his head. "There's nothing left. You're not getting out of this."

As soon as Drescher heard his voice, his gun swung towards Jack, like a compass facing North.

"I knew you weren't to be trusted," he snarled.

"Drescher!" Harrison reprimanded him, as he smiled at the CTU agent. "My dear, Jack. Who ever said this was about me? This is about educating the country, showing them the-"

"Shut up, Harrison," Jack interrupted, "I've had to listen to your propaganda long enough, I don't need anymore of it now."

"Jack," Chloe's voice rang out in his head, and he touched his ear, never once daring to take his eyes off Harrison and Drescher.

"Jack, it's me," Chloe's voice replied, "it's all over in Washington. We have Mason in custody along with six other men and one woman. CTU and DoD managed to get to them before anything could happen."

"Thanks, Chloe," he answered smirking at Harrison.

"I've bad news for you. Mason's in custody and the people of Washington can wake up tomorrow without fearing their water."

Harrison smiled beatifically at him. "I'm afraid LA won't be able to say the same." He raised his hand and raised the vial, angling over the nearest tank.

"No!" Jack yelled, his fingers tightening on the trigger.

Immediately shots rang out. Harrison fell to the ground, alive but in pain, the contents of the vial falling down through the tank.

In the chaos, Drescher aimed his gun at Jack, a deadly smirk on his face. He pulled the trigger as one of Curtis's men pulled his on Drescher. Jack felt the pain rip through his shoulder and slumped to the ground, cursing beneath his breath. He looked across the yard, seeing Drescher's lifeless eyes staring back at him. Tyler groaning in pain nearby.

Behind him, Jack heard the heavy clump of Army soldiers arriving on the scene, guns poised and ready for a battle that was already over. Jack frowned, sitting up wincing in pain. Better late than never he supposed.

"We've apprehended Harrison," Curtis said into his earpiece, before focusing his attention on Jack. "We've an agent down," he knelt down beside him. "You okay there, Jack?" he asked, taking his hand away and inspecting the bullet wound.

"I'll be fine," Jack insisted, panting lightly, "have we rounded up everyone?"

Curtis nodded, "yes, Harrison's being taken by chopper to CTU." He frowned, "I think maybe you should go with them, Jack. This doesn't look good."

Without waiting for a reply, Cutis activated the ear piece. "Chloe, tell the chopper pilot he's taking an extra passenger. Jack got shot."

The cold dread that seeped through her at those words reminded her just why she'd left this job, this hateful job that hurt people. And that was if they were lucky.

"Understood, Curtis," she said calmly, relaying the message to the pilot.

Her mind went blank. She didn't hear Bill thanking everyone for their hard work, or the relieved smiles and cheers from the people around her. Quietly, she slipped from her station and went to the bathrooms, bracing herself against the sink. She raised her eyes to her reflection.

She'd only been there a few hours and already she looked like crap. Her skin was pale and clammy, her eyes carrying dark circles underneath that were a combination of a weeks worth of essay correcting and the pressure and stress in the last few hours. She didn't know when it had happened, but she'd lost her footing here. She was out of habit, out of the swing of working long hours in pressurised situations, surviving on adrenaline and trying to ignore the fact that the people she cared about were out there risking life and limb for an ungrateful country.

She heard the door close quietly behind her and looking to the left in the mirror her eyes met those of Audrey Raines.

"Hello, Chloe. It's been a while."

To be continued…..


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Chloe's stomach tied itself into a knot as she gazed at the cool reflection of Audrey Raines. Immediately she straightened, her face turning calm and impassive. "Hi Audrey, I'm finished here. I'll get out of your hair."

She tried to leave, but Audrey moved forward, blocking her path. "Actually, I came here to talk to you."

"Why?" Chloe demanded harshly, "I can't imagine we've anything to talk about. And I don't do small talk, so don't think I'm being rude by not wanting to girlishly chat about how wonderful your life is in Washington."

She attempted to walk past her again, but once again found her path blocked. She grew impatient and folded her arms, glaring at her.

"Fine Audrey," she rubbed her forehead tiredly, "what is it you want to talk about?"

Audrey sighed, letting her arms drop to her sides. "Chloe, I…it's just been a long time since I last saw you, and I guess being back in there brought back a few nostalgic memories." She smiled wanly at her, but frowned as she got a closer look at the smaller woman. "Chloe, are you all right? You look terrible."

Chloe rolled her eyes, "well, gee, Audrey, that was worth staying to hear."

"I don't understand where all this hostility is coming from!" Audrey snapped, her patience wearing thin. "I just came here to tell you I'm over what happened two years ago."

The brunette stared incredulously at her. "_You're _ over it? Are you serious? Am I supposed to be grateful to you?"

Audrey crossed her arms, glaring defiantly at the younger woman. "You're unbelievable, do you know that? Most women never forgive the other woman."

"The other woman?" Chloe snapped, practically snarling at Audrey. "I was not the other woman. If anything…" She stopped herself from saying anything more and looked away, willing her racing heart to stop and took a few deep breaths. She didn't want to do this. She thought in leaving LA and CTU behind, she could have left her ambivalent history with Audrey behind as well. But it looked like Audrey wasn't going to just her walk out of there without some sort of confrontation.

Looking to diffuse the situation, Chloe took a step back, trying to curtail the anger and loathing she felt for the pampered woman before her.

"Look, I'm not saying Jack and I aren't to blame for how far south our friendship went," she said calmly, fists clenching by her sides, "but you didn't exactly have a sideline role either!"

"Why can't you just be honest, Chloe? Your friendship with Jack ended because he was in love with me and you resented that."

"You're kidding yourself if you think he actually loved you," Chloe bit back harshly. "Like most men, Jack wasn't using the head on his shoulders to do the thinking for him, and you took full advantage of that. We were happy," Chloe blazed, eyes shining fiercely. "We trusted each other, we were friends and you broke that. You," she bit her lip and stood back, an all too familiar stinging burning the backs of her eyes. She continued her voice softer, broken. "You tainted it. You helped turn us into office gossip. They never talked about us before. We were Jack and Chloe, we…just were. You changed that," she was ashamed at the tears that were building up at the corners of her eyes, but she couldn't stop it. "You took something unique and special and made it into something wrong, something sordid, and something we should be ashamed of. And worst of all, we let you."

Audrey stared wide eyes at her, her lower lip trembling. "It _was_ wrong, Chloe. Jack was _my_ boyfriend and yet I was the one who was made to feel like the other woman!" she let out a bark of a laugh. "You talk about your friendship with Jack like that's all it was."

She moved closer to the analyst, towering over her, a smirk on her face. "You never fooled anyone, Chloe, especially not me. We all know how you felt about Jack. You were in love with Jack Bauer and, well to be honest, I felt sorry for you. It couldn't have been easy, for you." Audrey stepped forward and with faux sympathetic tone in her voice. "I mean there you were in love with a man you thought you had a _special_ relationship with, and still he'd chose someone like me over you. But I'm guessing that says more about you than me."

Chloe snapped, and almost of its own free will, her hand slapped Audrey's face. The taller woman stumbled, and grabbed hold of the sink to steady herself, unable to stop the gasp of shock that escaped her mouth. She touched her cheek, felling the spot where a red print was starting to become visible. They stared at each other, and Chloe couldn't honestly say which of them was more surprised by her actions.

"God, damn it!" Audrey hissed, checking her inflamed cheek in the mirror.

"I, I'm sorry," Chloe stammered, "but you shouldn't have said that." She crossed her arms defensively as she looked uncertainly at the blonde woman. "I mean, it's been a long day, and I'm tired and worried about Jack, but, I never should have hit you."

Audrey shook her head, clearing it and took a few calming breaths. Her lips twitched wryly at the corners. "I knew it was a bad idea to come see you. I guess that's what I get for trying to put things right."

She sighed and closed her eyes for a long moment, before meeting Chloe's gaze. "I shouldn't have said what I did. It was wrong and…well, not completely honest. The truth is Chloe, I couldn't even hold onto Jack for six months after you left. It was just easier to blame you than admit that we were wrong."

Chloe didn't know what to say, and was saved the inconvenience of trying to think of something when a young female, analyst entered the bathroom. Her wide eyed gaze took in the reddening cheek of the former Secretary of Defence's daughter and the defiant looking, but legendary, Chloe O'Brian.

"What do you want?" Chloe snapped.

"I'm sorry," the redhead replied, "I didn't mean to interrupt, but Mr Buchanon thought you'd like to know that Agent Bauer has returned and is being taken to medical."

"Is he all right?" Audrey inquired before Chloe could get a word out.

"Well, I haven't seen him, but I hear he's doing okay. It's not a life threatening thing anyway."

As soon as she'd delivered her message, the young intern disappeared, thankful to escape the thick atmosphere in the small bathrooms.

The two women she left behind stared at each others, and Audrey was the one to look away. She smiled tightly at Chloe. "You should go to him. He'll be looking for you."

Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but unable to think of anything appropriate, she merely walked past the Washington socialite and headed to Medical, almost scared of what she was about to see.

By the time Chloe made it to medical, Jack had been stripped from the waist up and the doctor was dressing the wound and preparing the sling. Chloe stood nervously just inside the door of the room, her arms wrapped around her waist. Jack spotted her as the doctor finished up and beckoned her over to him.

"Hey."

"Hi," she replied her mouth scrunching up as she looked away. He took in her edgy stance and uncomfortable posture. He lightly reached out and brushed her knuckles.

"Thank you for your help today. We couldn't have done it without you."

She shrugged, uncomfortable, and averted her gaze. "You're welcome, Jack. Is it over now?"

"Yeah, the terrorists are being interviewed and the supply from the main water tank in the facility has been closed down until it can be replaced. At least they still have another two tanks to use until they can replace the other one."

"That's good," she replied, gazing intently at his wounded arm.

"Are you all right?" he asked, forcing her to look back at him.

Her mouth twisted. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Jack half smiled at her, "I'm fine, and I don't think there's anything wrong in asking how you're doing considering it's the first time you've been back in over two years. In fact-"

"You got shot," she blurted suddenly, unable to stop herself. "You got shot, and I forgot how bad it feels when I think you're badly injured, or maybe even dead!"

He nodded, his eyes falling to the scrubbed floor beneath them, "I'm sorry."

"Why?" she blinked in surprise, "it's not like you asked the terrorists to try to kill you."

"Still, I never realised," he paused, gathering his thoughts; "It's been a long time since anybody has worried about me. I'm not used to it."

Chloe felt her face colour and stood awkwardly before him. "Of course I worry, Jack. We're friends. Or, at least we i _were_ /i friends."

His reached out and grasped her elbow, forcing her to meet his gaze. "We are friends, Chloe. I'm sorry I let things go this badly wrong, but don't ever doubt the fact that I care about you. You're important to me, and now that I've managed to get you back into my life, I don't want to let you go."

She smiled sadly at him, "I want us to be friends again too, Jack. But I don't know how we can be. I can't be here anymore. Being here today has only cemented in my mind that I made the right decision in leaving CTU. I could never come back. Not now."

"I'm not asking you to come back to CTU, Chloe," Jack insisted, his grip tightening on her arm. "I'm asking you to let me be a part of your life. I know it won't be easy with us living across the country from each other, but I want to try. You're my best friend, Chloe, and I can't lose you again."

Impulsively, he pulled her closer to him, and she let him, wrapping her arms around his frame and letting him settle against her chest. She kissed the top of his head and felt a relieved sigh escape his body.

"They're sending me home as soon as my debrief in done."

"Good," she replied and he chuckled against her stomach. "I'm heading off myself soon."

He pulled back, an anxious look on his face. "Not back to Boston?"

She shook her head. "Tomorrow afternoon. I'm staying at a hotel tonight. At CTU's expense of course. They needn't think they can drag me clear across the country and expect me to pay!" she grumbled. "Mr Buchanon offered me a room at his and Karen's place, but that would just be weird." She wrinkled her nose and he smiled at her.

He cleared his throat nervously. "You know, you could always save the CTU expense budget by staying at my house."

She felt her cheeks grow hot and shook her head sadly. "I think that would be even weirder, don't you?"

"No, I don't"

"Jack," she pleaded, "I really don't think that's a good idea. It would be too awkward."

She turned around, but he kept a hold of her hand, and forced her to stop. Mindful of his aching side, he stood up and forced her to look back at him. He cupped her jaw, his thumb running across the downy softness of her cheek.

Beneath his fingers he could feel her flesh warm and colour at his attention, and he smiled softly at her. "I think this is the best idea I've ever had."

Her eyes locked with his, and without a moments hesitation he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. He was soft and careful, giving her room to pull back, which she didn't. He deepened the kiss, pulling her to him, and wrapping his arm around her waist, while her own travelled up his arm and to his shoulders.

She mumbled something unintelligible against his mouth, before she pulled back, her mouth swollen and red, and her pupils dilated, turning her eyes into a dark heaven.

"No, Jack," she said shakily, taking a few steps away from him. "We can't, we shouldn't. Nothing good could happen if I went home with you tonight. It wouldn't change anything. I still live on the other side of the country and you still live in LA, doing your CTU agent thing."

"I thought you said we needed to talk?"

She frowned, staring at his lightly tanned chest. "We did, we do. I just…I wonder if any good can come of it. Or how much talking we'd actually do." They shared a brief smirk, both knowing their talking would be limited to as few words as possible. "Perhaps it's better to leave the past in the past. We've made our peace Jack. At least now, we can say we parted on good terms."

His eyes lit up in fire, "That's not good enough, Chloe. We need each other. you know that as much as I do."

She swallowed hard, and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "I'm not denying it, Jack. But things are complicated enough without making it even more so!"

"Chloe," he urged with a low growl, but she refused to listen to him, and shook her head.

"I have to go," she furrowed her brow and turned on her heel, fleeing from medical and leaving a defeated Jack Bauer behind.

Through the sandblasted glass, Audrey had watched their little scene with a sick feeling in her stomach. She was happy with Craig, she loved him, but there was something about seeing Jack and Chloe together that irked her.

Maybe it was the fact that Jack had been the only man she'd ever lost to another woman. A woman he'd never laid a hand on while he was with her. Of that she was certain, Jack wasn't the type.

Her eyes followed the analyst from the darkened corridor as she hurried away, and she felt her mouth tighten. She had never understood the strange relationship the two of them had, or that strange connection that always seemed to bind them to each other. they were an odd pairing. Jack so masculine, strong and handsome, and Chloe who was sarcastic, incredibly intelligent, but nowhere near Jack in the appearance department. Chloe was pretty, but she was no supermodel, not that Audrey would call herself one, but compared to Chloe…

She shook her head, trying to clear it of her current train of thought. She had to get over this, it wasn't as if she wanted Jack, or was still in love with him, and yet seeing Chloe and Jack together had turned her into some sort of bitchy, she-demon she didn't recognise.

Her gaze floated back towards the man sitting on the bed in the sterile room in front of her with slumped shoulders. She had flirted with the idea of disappearing without seeing Jack, so many painful memories coming to mind when she thought of him, but she couldn't do that. She needed to say goodbye.


	11. Chapter 11

"You're free to go Agent Bauer," the doctor told him handing him a sheet of paper. "Here's your prescription. Come back next week for a check up."

"Thank you," Jack replied, lifting heavily from the clinical bed. He moved his arm gingerly, as he left medical, testing the restraints of the sling that had been imposed on him. His mind was already on ways to change the stubborn mind of Chloe O'Brian when he rounded a corner and was confronted with…her.

"Hi Jack," she smiled tentatively at him, and his step faltered, but he was unable to return her smile.

"Audrey." He stared at her, taking in her unchanged face and still brilliant smile, and he waited. Waited for the initial sharp pain followed by the dull ache that always came whenever he saw her. He waited for it, but this time it didn't come.

Immediately her gaze honed in on his injured arm. "Nothing too serious I hope?"

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, "uh, no, no, the bullet didn't hit any major arteries, it was clean straight through. I'll be fine in a few weeks," he frowned as he took in her appearance and pushed back her hair to see the reddened skin on her cheek.

"What happened, Audrey?" he growled.

She shook her head, her arms tightening around her waist. "It's nothing, Jack."

"Who did this?" Jack insisted.

Audrey sighed, "it was Chloe."

"Chloe?" Jack blinked in surprise, staring blankly at her. Then something seemed to fall into place in his mind.

"Audrey," he said quietly, deadly, stepping closer towards her, "why would Chloe hit you?"

Audrey averted her gaze from the famous, intense gaze of Jack Bauer and cleared her throat nervously.

"I…I may have said something I shouldn't have. I pushed her too far, you know how I get."

"Damn it, Audrey," Jack sighed, frustration on his face.

"Look, I didn't come here to talk about Chloe."

"Okay, then what do you want to talk about?"

"Nothing," she caught her bottom lip between her lip and pushed back her perfectly coiffed hair. "I've to go back to Washington soon. I just wanted to see how you were."

Jack nodded, his eyes darting downwards.

"I'm fine, Audrey," he said carefully, meeting her eyes. "How are the wedding plans?"

"Coming along nicely. I bet you're glad Chloe's back," she said, with the hint of sharpness to her voice.

"Audrey, I-"

"No Jack," she interrupted him, shaking her head, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I was just surprised when I heard her voice on the other end of the phone. You don't need to explain yourself to me."

"I wasn't going to, Audrey," he replied, taking a step away from her. He shook his head, and ran a hand through his short hair. "It's been over eighteen months. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't spend my time mourning how it all went wrong. We were never going to work Audrey, and we both know that."

Her eyes welled up and she angrily wiped away a stray tear that had escaped. "I know that, Jack," she replied shakily, "but it's not like we're talking about some new girl you met last week. This is Chloe we're talking about, and seeing the two of you together again... it brings it all back. We spent most of our time together arguing because of her."

"Audrey, the only reason we argued over Chloe was because you didn't trust me. I'm sorry it still hurts you, but that was then, and this is now. I thought you'd moved on," he finished quietly.

She chuckled mirthlessly, shaking her head. "Oh, I've moved on Jack, don't worry. You know, I've never told you this before but…." She trailed off and looked at him uncertainly.

"It's okay, Audrey, whatever it is."

She bit her lip and sighed, looking down at her three hundred dollar Gucci shoes. "If Paul hadn't died, I would have left with him, Jack. I would have moved to Washington with him," she met his eyes, a sadly serious expression shining back at him. "I would have gone with him, and I can't honestly say I would have regretted that decision."

Jack nodded, a sad smile on his face, "and if Terri hadn't died, I never would have moved to Washington and never would have met you, Audrey. I'm finally catching onto the fact that there's no point in looking back at 'what ifs'. We made the decisions we did, and we have to live with them." He paused, and moved toward her, capturing her smooth hand with his calloused fingers. "Whatever else you believe about me and Chloe, I hope you know I i _did_ /i love you, Audrey."

"I know, Jack. I loved you too. But it's not the same now." She smiled warmly at him, "I love Craig; I wouldn't be marrying him if I didn't. I didn't think I could ever love anyone like that anymore, but here I am. Engaged to a senator they're tipping to be president one day," they shared an amused look and she glanced back in the direction of the hub of CTU, her expression darkening. "But that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt."

She pulled her hand away her eyes tracing the rough contours of his face. "I'm not in love with you anymore, Jack, and to be quite frank, I'm not entirely sure I was after you came back from hiding."

Jack half smiled at her, "I know what you mean, but I'm glad you're happy now, Audrey. You deserve to be happy."

She smiled gently back at him. "Thank you. You deserve to be happy too, Jack….and so does Chloe. I'm sure you'll be very happy together."

"Audrey, we're not-"

She shook her head, "For God's sake Jack, when are you going to admit the truth? Everybody knows how you feel about each other. Even I could see it two years. I was just stupid enough to believe that with Chloe out of the picture, you would finally love me the way you should have."

Jack looked down at the ground, a shaky breath leaving his chest, with his head bowed. "I never meant to hurt you, Audrey."

"I know." She placed her palm on his cheek and pushed his head back up, sending him a watery smile. "Goodbye, Jack."

She kissed him on the cheek and turned away, not once looking back at the man who followed her every move with his clear blue eyes.

* * *

Jack had zoned out on Curtis a few minutes after they left CTU. His voice had become merely a light buzzing in the background to his thoughts. His thoughts focused solely on Chloe O'Brian.

He hadn't expected to feel so instantaneously connected to her again after all this time, but he had. As soon as he'd walked into that classroom and seen her petite figure at the top of her class, her scowl in place as she'd reprimanded him for turning up late.

He couldn't help the smile that had appeared on his face at seeing her again. That connection, that pull had immediately righted itself, lit up and made itself known. And she had felt it too, he could tell. But she was scared, she'd told him to ignore it, to leave her alone, and shouldn't he respect that decision?

The buzzing suddenly stopped as they pulled up outside his house, and Jack glanced towards the driver's seat, before following the darker man's gaze to where the object of Jack's restless musings sat on the steps of his front porch, her sweater clad arms wrapped securely around her small frame, a bag resting by her side.

"Looks like you have a visitor," Curtis commented, his lips twitching in amusement.

"Thanks, Curtis," Jack replied absently, getting out of standard issue vehicle. He didn't even hear Curtis drive away, his gaze was too intensely focused on the petite woman in front of him. Scared that if he looked away from her, she'd disappear again.

She stared up at him, an uncertain smile on her face. "Hi."

"Hi," his keys clanged together as they swung around his curved index finger. "What are you doing here?"

She got up from the front step, dusting off the backs of her thighs. "You are right. I shouldn't be wasting the CTU budget. I got to the hotel room and then the guilt kicked in."

He cocked an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. "CTU's budget, huh?"

"You know me, Jack, I feel bad anytime I do anything that goes against CTU."

This time he actually laughed, a deep chuckle that was so good it almost curled her toes.

"And that's it?" he pressed, inserting they key into the lock.

"Well that and the fact that I do actually want us to be friends again, even if my behaviour doesn't always suggest that. And me running off isn't going to make that happen."

He regarded her thoughtfully, the ghost of a smile gracing his mouth. "Would you like to come inside?"

She answered him with a smile and a nod, following him wordlessly into the small bungalow.

"You redecorated since the last time I was here," she noted quietly, her eyes taking in the new features and colour schemes.

"Yeah, I figured it was about time. Kim picked out most of the colours and décor."

"Kim?" her surprised eyes flew to him at the sound of his daughter's name, and a gratefully relieved smiled answered her.

"Yeah, we're…better."

"That's great, Jack. I'm so pleased for you. Both of you. You deserve to be happy."

"Thank you. We're not as close as we used to be, but we're slowly getting there. It takes time."

Chloe nodded in understanding and sat down on the leather couch. Jack disappeared and reappeared with two opened beers. He offered one to her and she took it gratefully.

"I hit Audrey," she blurted out suddenly, her eyebrows drawing down in a frown.

"What?" Jack blinked at her, trying once again to picture the words she'd just uttered.

"I hit her, okay? I smacked her right across that pretty damn face of hers."

She was surprised when Jack's only reaction was a chuckle that seemed to come from the very bottom of his soul.

"I know," he admitted, smirking at her.

"You do?" her eyebrows scrunched together before the pieces fell into place. "She told you?!"

"Yeah, right before she sailed out of CTU."

Chloe sat frowning, her mouth twisting, trying to process this. "I don't know why I'm so surprised she told you."

"I wish I could have seen your face," he shook his head, an amused laugh escaping once again.

"You think it's funny?"

"You don't," he countered with an arched brow.

Chloe shrugged, the corner of her mouth lifting. "Maybe a little, but you shouldn't be condoning violence like that."

He laughed, picking at the label of the beer bottle.

"God, I wish they had cameras in the ladies toilets."

Chloe slapped his shoulder playfully, and their laughter died away.

"Do you miss her?" Chloe asked quietly.

He frowned as he studied the dark green bottle in his hands and painfully shook his head.

"No, Chloe, I don't. To be honest, when she finally left…it was a relief. I think that's what hurt most of all."

She stared at him in confusion, forcing him to look at her. "I don't understand."

He sent her a lopsided smile, that didn't meet his sad eyes. "It wasn't until Audrey left that I finally realised the truth. Do you remember that evening out in the parking lot, when you told me you were leaving?"

She winced and shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, can't exactly forget. I should probably apologise for that."

"No, don't," he insisted, taking her hand in his, holding it reverently, his beer bottle forgotten and standing perilously on the edge of the coffee table.

"From the moment you told me you were leaving, I swear, I stopped breathing, Chloe. I couldn't get my head around it. I was filled with this overwhelming sense of…panic and loss, and that was before you'd even left."

She sat hypnotised by his words, unwilling to say anything that would stop this sudden openness Jack had embraced and let her be part of.

"Audrey left six months later, and the relief I felt at not having to pretend we were okay anymore, at not having to be around her…it just made me realise how much you mean to me. Because I still missed you, Chloe, everyday, and I still cared about you. A lot more than I thought I ever did. I cared about you as more than a friend…and more than Audrey."

He looked at her again, and her breath caught in her throat at the emotions she saw in his eyes, and the sincerity behind them.

"I still do," he finished, in barely a whisper.

"Jack," her voice cracked, and she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around him, holding him as close to her as possible, forgetting his injury until she felt him groan in pain.

"Oh God," she pulled back, embarrassment and concern fighting for dominance on her face, "I'm sorry, are you okay?"

He laughed, and grabbed hold of her hand again, squeezing it tightly.

"I am now, Chloe. I missed you," Jack said, meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry I acted like an ass before you left. I never should have treated you like that."

"Good, you should be," she huffed wrapping her arms around herself.

He groaned as he moved his arm again, attempting to find a more comfortable position.

"Are you sure you're okay?" her voice filled with concern as she looked at him, and he grinned back at her.

"I'm better, now that you're here."

She rolled her eyes, trying to hide the colour rising in from her neck. "Are you always this cheesy?"

"Only when it works."

"And you think cheesy will work with me?"

"You baby? Never." His arm reached over and started playing with her hair. Giving in, she leaned back against the headrest and into his touch.

"Why did you come here? You were pretty adamant at CTU that this was a bad idea." His voice was like melted chocolate and warm velvet and she couldn't help the indulgent sigh that momentarily escaped from her mouth.

Eventually, she turned towards him, a smirk on her face. "Well, I figured it was time we talked. Besides, I'm meant to be a genius, and what kind of idiot would it make me if I turned down the opportunity to have sex with Jack Bauer?"

He coughed satisfyingly to her ears, a stunned expression on his wide eyed face. She smiled smugly and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Are you okay there Jack?"

"I'm fine," he growled, glaring at her. "And your argument about us living on opposite sides of the country?"

She shrugged and leaned her head against his uninjured shoulder. "Like I said, I'm a genius and you're Jack Bauer, we'll work something out."

"I guess there is that," he agreed, a smile tugging at his lips.

"So, which way to the bedroom?"

* * *

She woke up in the morning, in a comfortable bed with a warm body beside her. Not a bad way to start the day she mused, a smile spreading across her face. She cracked open an eye and found herself the object of Jack Bauer's attention.

"Good morning," his gravely voice greeted her.

"Morning," she replied, biting her lip and turning a light shade of pink.

Above her she heard Jack chuckle as he pressed a kiss to her pliant lips. "Is that embarrassment I see on your face, Chloe?"

"No," she replied stoutly, "I just happen to like your morning voice."

His hands travelled over her body, tracing every curve and contour. "Well, I'm just going to have to make sure you hear it a lot more often."

Her fingers ran through the light hair covering his arms and she sighed contentedly, "Is that a promise?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll hold you to it, you know."

"Yeah, I know, that's why I made it."

To be continued…..


	12. Chapter 12

This is the final part of 'Conflicting Glances,' and I'd just like to thank everyone who has read and left reviews for the story. I really have appreciated hearing your opinions and comments. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and you like how Jack and Chloe have ended up :-)

* * *

Chloe yawned, the eyes closing in her head, but she was determined to get some work done. She settled down onto the mattress with her laptop and papers spread out in front of her on the duvet. Surveying it with a critical eye, she frowned as she tidied up some of the loose papers and pens.

Feeling the onset of a headache, she wondered once again if she'd made the right choice in deciding to pursue her PhD. The college had been quite content with her teaching with her current qualifications, but it had been her own insecurities and ambitions that had prompted the decision.

She'd always planned on doing her PhD one day, and she'd always felt a little different when all the other lecturers and Professors had theirs. So, she'd taken eighteen months off from her lecturing and got her head down to the books.

Eight months in, and she wished it was over. MIT had a job waiting for her when she qualified, or even before, but she refused to go back now with her tail between her legs. She had set her mind to doing this, and she was damn well going to make sure she achieved it.

It wasn't easy having Jack on the other side of the country either, and in a different time zone. For the past ten months they'd been travelling back and forth every few weeks. And she cherished every minute they spent together, her only regret being when they had to say goodbye to each other at the airport.

Although, she wouldn't change it for the world. Being with Jack had been completely different from anything she'd ever thought. Whatever her imagination may have dreamt up in the middle of the lonely nights in Boston, it was nothing compared to the reality. For a man who had brought such pain, blood and death to others, his gentleness and tenderness had at times amazed her. His attentiveness, thoughtfulness and sweetness were something she hadn't thought of before.

She shook her head of her thoughts, frowning as she attempted to study the text in front of her. She rolled her eyes as the phone beside her rang, yet another distraction.

"What?" she snapped into the handset.

"Well, good evening to you too, darlin'," came the amused response.

"Chase?" immediately her books were forgotten and she smiled.

"Hi Chloe, how are you?"

"Tired. I forgot how much I hate being a student. Probably why I didn't do my PhD in the first place."

She heard his laughter down the line and it reminded her of how long it had been since she'd last seen him.

"I miss you," she said suddenly. "And Angela."

"We miss you too. When are you heading back west?"

She gathered her papers away, finally admitting she wasn't going to get any more work done that evening, and swung her legs out of the bed. "I'm flying out to Jack's on Thursday night."

"Meet you for lunch on Friday then? Assuming Jack doesn't have some wild, romantic plans for you?"

She rolled her eyes, "you're just jealous because you're not as romantic as him."

The doorbell rang, and she groaned.

"That the door?"

"Yeah," she grumbled, "but if I ignore them, they'll go away."

A loud knocking started on the door and Chloe marched into the living room. "Go away!" she yelled at the door.

Her answer came in the form of an even louder banging on the wooden frame. "Oh for God… Chase hang on a second."

"No problem."

She moved forward and wrenched the door open, eyes blazing. "What do-"

Her eyes widened and she pulled the phone back to her ear. "Chase, I'll call you back."

"Hey," the smile spread across his face as his sharp, intense eyes took in her hair pulled back in a rough ponytail and the soft flannel pyjamas she was wearing.

"Jack," her voice was breathy and stolen from her a moment later as he surged forward and kicked the door closed behind him, kissing her insistently. The phone forgotten, it clattered to the wooden floor and Chloe found herself being suddenly pressed back into the couch, eagerly returning Jack's growing passion.

Already his hands were roaming beneath her top, eliciting small moans and mewls from her. Impatiently, he pulled at the buttons, but they refused to budge. Growling, he finally pulled his mouth from hers and his gaze narrowed at the small impediments to his goal. Finally, he ripped them off, small buttons falling around the floor and between the cushions.

She gasped as she watched them fall like confetti and felt him roughly push back the soft material.

"I'll buy you a new set," he muttered, already going to task of leaving a trail of kisses down her neck and across her breasts.

"'K"

She pulled up his sweater, sighing in satisfaction as she finally felt the rough hair of his chest against her smooth skin.

She made light work of the belt buckle and quickly rid him of his pants and boxers. He groaned in pleasure, as her hot little hands trailed down his body and her nails dug almost painfully into the small of his back.

"I want you inside me now," she demanded breathlessly.

He growled possessively and willingly complied with her command. He was hot, and hard, and fast. She came quickly, his name escaping in a high octane breath from her mouth. It was enough to send him over after her, kissing her collar bone as he came back down to earth.

He collapsed on top of her, and she practically purred in his ear.

"God, I missed you," he whispered, pushing back her hair.

She grinned up at him, "really, I hadn't noticed."

He chuckled deeply, sending a shiver running through her and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

"Come on," he said, getting up, and pulling her up with him, "I'll make you a coffee."

He sauntered off towards the kitchen, unconcerned with his nakedness, and Chloe took full advantage to enjoy the view.

When he disappeared around the corner, she went into her bedroom and threw on one of the large overgrown MIT sweaters in her wardrobe.

"So," she said, when she followed him through to the kitchen. "How did you end up at my doorstep at nine forty five on a Tuesday evening?"

"A plane."

She smacked him on the arm, before leaning on his shoulder and watching as he made the coffee, as if it were as fascinating as the matrix of the CTU computer server.

"Not that I don't appreciate the visit, but what are you doing here? Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Actually, I don't." he glanced down at the dark head resting on his shoulder, trying to gauge her reaction to his next words. "I no longer work for CTU, LA."

Her head immediately flew from his shoulder and she stared at the side of his face unblinking. "Excuse me? Jack, what the hell happened?"

"Well," he turned around and put him arms loosely around her waist, "I got offered a new job I couldn't refuse."

Chloe looked at him sceptically, trying to imagine him working for anyone other than CTU.

"A new job?"

"Yeah," his mouth curved upwards at the corners and he looked at her through half lidded eyes. "They're starting up a new facility for training new CTU agents, and they want me to be director of Field Ops training."

She bit her lip, attempting not to let the smile crawl across her face, a mixture of relief and joy running through her. She loved Jack being an agent, but knowing he'd be safe, away from the front line just made her that much happier. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

He nodded, kissing her on the lips. "Definitely. I'm getting on, Chloe, I'm not the same man I was when I first joined up. The years and injuries are taking their toll."

"You're not exactly infirm, Jack," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Damn right," he growled pulling her closing and pressing a kiss to her mouth. "But this way, I still get to use my field training and help train new recruits. I'm actually looking forward to the challenge."

"Wow, an army of Jack Bauers. Be still my beating heart," she smirked, poking him in the chest.

"You haven't heard the best part yet." He murmured close to her ear, feeling the shiver than ran down her spine.

"And that would be?"

"The location."

"The loc…." Her eyes widened as she let her words drift off, staring at his beaming smile and refusing to believe he could possibly be implying what she thought.

"Acton," he whispered in her ear.

She couldn't have stopped the smile on her face even if she'd wanted to. The muscles around her mouth began hurting, but she didn't care. "That's, that's just a few miles outside of Boston."

"I always knew you had a good grasp of geography."

"You're moving to Boston?"

"Yep."

"That's the best news I've had all week." She threw herself into his arms, laughing and smiling, unable to believe it was possible to be this happy.

"I guess this means you'll be looking for space in my sock drawer." She drawled, pulling back to look at him.

"No," he shook his head, tracing her cheek with his finger. "I'm not moving in here, Chloe."

Her eyebrows immediately drew together into a frown, and she stepped away from him, a million different thoughts and emotions vying for her attention in her mind.

"Chloe," he called to get her attention.

"No," she replied, not looking at him, "it's okay, Jack. I mean if you think it's too soon for us to move in together. That's okay."

"No," he moved forward and rubbed her shoulders lightly. "I shouldn't have said it like that. It came out wrong." He tipped her chin up so that he could look into her eyes. "You know I love you, don't you?"

"Of course," she replied without hesitation.

"Okay, just, hang on a minute," he smiled reassuringly at her and disappeared into the living room.

"I wasn't planning on doing it like this," he said as he reappeared by her side, his boxers having made a reappearance, while Chloe tried not to dwell on her disappointment at that development.

"In boxers?" she questioned him confused.

"No," he chuckled taking one of her hands in his. "I'm not going to move in here, Chloe, because I want us to move. Both of us. I want us to buy a house, outside the city, somewhere quiet, somewhere without nosy neighbours and noisy sirens. Just you and me."

"Really?" she asked a sheen of moisture in his eyes.

"Yeah, in fact," he uncurled his fist and she gasped when she saw the small black, velvet box in the palm of his hand, "there's something I was going to ask you."

Her hands magnetically went to the box, and her fingers hovered above it, looking up at him in a daze.

"Open it," he urged her.

Carefully, she lifted the lid and gasped when she saw the platinum band inside with the small, but beautifully cut diamond sitting prominently in the centre.

"Jack," she whispered, feeling the trail of a single tear run down her cheek, but unable to brush it away.

"Chloe," he whispered quietly, and she raised her eyes to his, seeing the love and vulnerability shining back at her, "will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes," she punctuated her response raining kisses all over his face, and he laughed, burying his face in her hair.

He swung her around, causing her to squeal before placing back on her feet, and took out the shining ring, placing it on her finger. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," she grinned up at him.

"Good. I wasn't sure if you'd rather pick one yourself, but I was going by the jewellers the other day and I saw it. And I knew I had to get it for you Chloe."

"Thank you," she said staring at the ring on her finger, then turning to kiss him deeply. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, baby." He leaned his forehead against her, his bare arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked her eyebrow cocked.

"No," he replied, kissing the corner of her mouth, "but if you want to warm me up, I have no objections."

Finis


End file.
